Robotech One shots!
by theGhostflyer
Summary: Too many RoboTech ideas bouncing around the ol'noggin so I decided to put a one shot folder up! Way for me to put ideas down for one shots, or in some cases, possible future projects! Anywho! Drop a review and enjoy the ride! A few alternate scenes (I.E. Omakes) for Alight will probably end up in here.
1. Chapter 1

Dance With me

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky, hardly a cloud in sight as four Veritechs from the RoboTech Defense Force soared over head the base. Two years ago, this site had been nothing more than a cratered field overlooking Lake Gloval, the final resting place of the Super Dimensional Fortress that had saved the human race from certain extinction. Captain Lisa Hayes wiped the sweat from her brow as she walked briskly down the flight line, her destination was the hanger on the end of the line. It was a rather warm day and she was at least thankful her uniform came with a skirt instead of trousers as that would have made the somewhat warm weather feel like a desert, no matter how much the brass stated they breathed. As she passed ground crews, she gave a nod in greeting towards them as they called out the proper greeting of the day to her. Regulation on a flight line meant no salutes as no one was allowed to wear their covers in the off chance it became a foreign object sucked into a fighter engine. And with the Zentradi Malcontents flaring up, it wouldn't be smart to point out who was an officer and who wasn't, though it was a moot point as everyone knew who she was anyway.

Letting out a soft sigh as she approached the open hanger doors, her thoughts drifted once more towards the feelings she held for the pilot she was coming to see. Rick Hunter was a puzzle to her. There were times when he would be so sweet and charming that she practically melted to other times when she wished she could reach through the communications panel and simply strangle the infuriating man. It wasn't that he did it on purpose, or so she hoped, it was just how he managed to push all the wrong buttons at times that always wound her up. And yet, no matter how angry he could make her, he was always the first to make her feel better when things seemed to be on the verge of going pear shaped. Always seemed to have a kind word or helpful advice on how to handle her problems. He was the greatest friend, besides Claudia of course, she had in her life. But she wanted more than his friendship and he seemed to be perfectly fine with their current relationship. She knew he was still chasing after Minmei, and if the rumors were true, he'd met with her a few times over the last two years. The thought that he had entered a relationship with Minmei tore at her heart, but she couldn't stop herself from the hope that maybe they were all just rumors, or the longing in her heart to be with him.

 _'Great position you've put yourself in Lisa. Chasing after a man who doesn't see you in that light.'_ She mentally grumbled as she entered the hanger. Her nose was assaulted with the scent of engine grease and fuel, and her ears with the gentle melodies playing from the small radio sitting on the tool chest to her left. She noted that the radio wasn't playing anything sung by Minmei, but an artist she couldn't place. Confused, but feeling bolstered that maybe it had indeed been rumors, she came around the right side of the Veritech sitting proudly in the center of the hanger. Skull One, Roy Fokker's old plane gleamed under the light, her white hull highlighted in gold bands seemed to hum with power. The remarkable plane was the very first of the production run of the Valkyrie fighters that were now the work horse of the RDF Air Wing. Lisa ran her hand along the nose as she passed, the metal cool to her touch, as she approached the man of her desires waist deep into the fighter's engines. When Lisa had first questioned why Rick would handle his own maintenance, he had told her that it was a habit he had since his air circus days. He felt that a pilot needed to know just how their planes ticked, that it created a bond between man and machine that allowed him to come back from every battle in one piece. She pushed down the wave of guilt that flared up from the memory of the time she had accidentally shot him down. Rick had waved her off at the time, saying it could have happened to anyone He even joked that his old Veritech had been handling funny anyway and now he had a new one to raise chaos with.

She could hear him humming along to the soft tune as he slowly extracted himself from his fighter, his flight suit tied around his waist leaving him clad only in his white, oil stained, tee shirt. He seemed to be in his own little world as he turned to the cart beside him, placing the wrench down and grabbing a grease smeared rag to wipe his hands on. He looked adorable as he nodded along, a few smudges of oil on his cheeks as he went about his normal routine.

"Oh, hey Captain!" He greeted upon seeing her standing not five feet from him. "What brings you to my kingdom?"

Lisa smirked at the joking tone as he spread his arms wide. "And what a Kingdom it is my lord."

"You may enjoy the view but touch nothing peasant!" He joked, eliciting a laugh from the woman before him. He sobered up and tossed the rag onto the cart and walked towards the cooler set by the wall. "If this is about the trainee reports, I'll have them on your desk by 0830 tomorrow. Still waiting on Max's report for Baker. I swear that kid is a menace in the sky. Doing what he wants when he wants. He's liable to get himself killed." Rick scoffed and grabbed two bottles of cola and turned to Lisa. "Want one?"

"Sure. And Baker sounds like another hot headed pilot I know. Goes by the name of Hunter. I think you know him." She teased. She loved moments like this with Rick.

Rick, being a mature adult and a respectable military officer, stuck his tongue out in response as Lisa accepted the offered drink. He popped the cap off and took a long swig, savoring the ice cold drink.

"I just stopped by to see you Rick. Though since you brought it up, I will need that report tomorrow." She took her own sip and hummed in appreciation.

"I was wondering when you would drop by. You've been pretty distracted this last week."

Lisa grimaced before she responded. "Yes well. With everything going on, I've been spending a lot of time going over the SDF-2's systems and construction time line. They should have her finished in a month or two. Not to mention all the requisition orders I've had to sign off on."

"That's good to hear. Glad my transfer paperwork went through to her." Rick grinned seeing the surprised look on Lisa's face.

"But...when? I never saw the request cross my desk." She asked in confusion. It wasn't like she wouldn't have stamped the approval on it. She had been upset when the last of the transfer request had come through and she hadn't seen Rick's. It had lead credence to the possibility that he and Minmei had entered into a relationship.

"Admiral Gloval. Found out at the ball last month. For awhile, I thought I upset you to the point you denied it." He tapped the bottle against his chin thoughtfully before he continued. "He told me right before you left."

Lisa flushed as she remembered the ball in question. She had been plucking up the courage all night to approach Rick for a dance, maybe even confess how she felt. Claudia had been extremely supportive of her and had offered, well threatened would be the correct word, to drag her over and toss her into his lap to lend Lisa a hand. That was until she over head a certain Jan Morris, who had been requested to come to the ball to show support for the men and woman in uniform, had let slip that Minmei was involved with someone they all knew. Claudia had asked what was wrong as Lisa's anguished face had set her on edge. The woman made some lame excuse of not feeling well and left the ball quickly when she spotted Rick approaching them, his face almost split wide in a massive smile. She had ended up crying herself to sleep that night.

"You left right before I could ask you for a dance. I was going to tell you then." He looked to her, his face showing concern. "But since you left after you saw me, I can't help but feel I did something to upset you. Despite Claudia telling me you weren't feeling well, which by the way, even she didn't buy that excuse you know." He chided.

Lisa ducked her head and locked her eyes on the bottle in her hands, the heart break welling back up. "Well..I...I didn't think it was appropriate to dance with my subordinate."

"Uh huh." Rick did not sound convinced. "Pull the other one. Lisa, don't lie to me. Is it about Minmei?"

She sighed and nodded her head, still not meeting his eyes. "It wouldn't look to good for you if your girlfriend found out you danced with a woman you kissed once."

"Kissed twice actually." Rick remarked, a smirk crossing his face at the memory. "And I got to admit, those rumors about her and me are some of the funniest I've ever heard. How can you be engaged to someone you haven't seen or talked to in two years!"

Lisa felt her eyes widen as she glanced to Rick, looking for some sign that he was either being serious that there was nothing going on or trying to cover himself from what ever wrath she might have. Seeing the mirth in his face and the twinkling eyes, it stole her breath as she realized the rumors that had circulated were false and her heart skipped a beat at that realization. "But...I heard Jan talking..."

"Minmei and her cousin are together. Not quite sure how that's even acceptable and I get that they aren't blood related. Still..." He trailed off as a disgusted shiver passed through him. "I gave up on her a year and a half ago. Gave all my autographed stuff to Rico. Man, you should have seen his face! He looked like Christmas had come early!" Rick chuckled, finishing his cola.

"Oh." Lisa looked back at her knees, her face flushed from how embarrassed she felt for even considering those rumors may be true. "I'm sorry Rick. I shouldn't have let it get to me."

"Why did you though?" He prodded, leaning back with his hands clasped behind his head. "Why would the idea of me dating Minmei upset you?"

 _'Oh God. I can't believe I trapped myself here! I can't tell him. Not until I know how he feels!'_

"We're friends Rick, good ones at that." She fished for a possible answer that would give her some breathing room. "I just was hurt because I thought you didn't trust me enough to tell me you were. If it had been true of course." _'Thank God, pride intact!'_

She glanced at Rick and saw him crack one eye open, narrowed at her as he smirked. "Sure Lisa. I'll buy that."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on her. He stretched out his arms and rose to his feet. As she watched, he strode to the radio and increased the volume of the slow song that came on. The melody was catchy and enjoyable, and Lisa was wondering just what Rick was up to. He walked back over to her, his cocky grin that stole her breath away and made her heart beat just that much quicker plastered on his face. "So...about that dance you owe me."

Lisa's face reddened as she looked at his outstretched hand and his pleading eyes. "But..Rick...you're covered in grease. And I'm still in uniform."

The weak defense did nothing to dissuaded the man as he remained still, his hand open and inviting her. "Come on Lisa, dance with me, just this once. Promise I won't step on your toes."

She looked from his face to his hand, her own gripping the half full bottle tightly as her breath caught in her chest. She looked back into his eyes, seeing a hope in them. Setting the bottle down, she shyly placed her hand in his and felt him gently pulled her to her feet, placing her against his chest. She was blushing fiercely as Rick placed his hands on her hips and the two began swaying to the beat of the music, the cool summer breeze blowing through the hanger. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest, a happy little smile gracing her delicate features as the rumble from Rick's chest soothed her nerves as he hummed along to the music. "You're not too bad at this Rick."

He chuckled at her whispered praise.

"I've had some practice." He explained as they slowly rotated. "I asked Claudia to teach me for the ball. Now that was embarrassing! I can't tell you how many times she would yell at me for not putting my hands on her waist instead of her ribs or that I had to be closer to her and not a foot back. It was awkward as she's pretty much my big sister you know."

Lisa giggled softly at that statement before her mind replayed what he had just said. "You wanted to learn before the ball?"

"Yup." He admitted, his own cheeks flushing. "I had one particular girl I wanted to dance with and wanted to make a good impression on her. Unfortunately for me, she took off with the excuse of not feeling good."

Lisa stopped moving and her eyes shot open to their widest potential. Emerald eyes, filled with wonder, hope, and love locked onto two blue orbs filled with honesty and want. "You...you mean..."

"That's right Lisa. I wanted to dance with you that night."

Feeling her eyes start to water, she struggled to formulate a coherent sentence, until Rick interrupted her attempts. "I know you are asking why, or at least trying to. I told you I gave up on Minmei a year and a half ago. It took me another six months and some rather heavy handed suggestions from Claudia, Gloval, and the Trio to think about you. All the mixed signals I got confused me for another four months until I managed to unravel it all in my head and in my heart. Spent the last eight trying to convey my emotions to you, but I've never really been too good at putting my emotions into words." He gave a small laugh.

"You mean...you...you like me?"

"Like is such a weak word to use. More like...love."

Lisa didn't want to believe this was true. Part of her was jumping up and down, screaming for her to claim him, the other part was stunned, thinking this had to be a dream. But if it was, she never wanted to wake up! Screwing up her courage, she hesitantly reached a hand up and cupped his warm cheek, her eyes not daring to leave his. With trembling knees, she slowly pulled him down until Rick's lips met her's, the kiss gently but to Lisa, she felt a spark shoot from her lips to her very being. A warm glow flared into her chest as her heart swelled. Her emotions swallowed her and were conveyed to Rick through the simple act, telling him all he needed to know about her own feelings for him. The world seemed to fade around them as they lost themselves to the roar of emotions the kiss brought forth. All too soon for either one's liking, it ended. Rick rested his forehead against hers, a warm smile on his face. She slowly opened her eyes, still not daring to hope this was real. "This...this isn't a dream? You're really...we just...?"

Rick smirked as she looked to him, a small welling of fear in her eyes that this might have actually been a dream. "If this is a dream, I'm going to be pretty upset as it took me a month to get the courage to do this."

Lisa wiped a few stray tears and flashed a brilliant smile at him. "I'm very happy you did Rick. I glad at least one of us did at any rate."

"Yeah well, you shot me down once so I really wasn't worried about a second time." He joked.

"Are you really sure though? About...us?"

Rick used his hand to cup her chin gently, using his thumb to wipe the last tear that rolled down her soft cheek. "You know, actions speak louder than words."

Lisa lost herself in the second kiss. Who would have thought she could have avoided all her heart ache over the last eight months if she had just had one dance with Rick.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I actually plan to put up my last few oneshots and alternate takes I currently have written today. Only three more and maybe a fresh sad one that's sure to get some tears. The three are going through some finishing touches and one is tied, at least in setting to this one. I actually kinda got some dialogue ideas to add in after I read JayDog's Darkest Before The Dawn! Don't shoot me dude, you write freaking awesome dialogue! The doorstep scene had me screaming at Rick to just kiss Lisa! Consequence be damned! But anyway, this oneshot folder will have at least four more updates today from partially finished ones to at least one written from scratch. Had to bump the rating up for this one. Wrote it around christmas but couldn't decided if I would put it up or not. Well, enjoy!**

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Christmas Mishaps

Rick was completely lost. It was late in the evening on Christmas Eve and in his bedroom slept the woman he had been chasing for sometime. He should feel elated to finally have her. She had come to him, asking to stay for awhile and she had begun acting like a housewife. Showing affection and generally going about the day like he had always dreamed of. But it didn't feel right. The whole situation just made him feel uncomfortable, so out of place. His own home felt like someone elses to him. And he had no clue why. Giving a sigh, the young man rose to his feet and grabbed his jacket, not sure where he was going, but knew he needed some fresh air. Grabbing his keys, Rick Hunter walked out of his door and closed it, not realizing just what the night would bring him yet. The cold air bit at his face as he walked, though thankfully there wasn't much snow about. Blowing snow would have made the walk even worse. He jammed his hands into his pockets and stooped his head against the icy wind.

He walked, not really paying attention to where he was going before his feet traced the familiar path to Lisa's place. He looked up and saw all her lights were off and the blinds were open which meant she wasn't home. He cocked his head in confusion as she was usually home by ten. It was creeping closer to midnight now. He couldn't help but feel concerned, wondering where she was and if she was okay. Maybe she found a boyfriend? His face darkened at the thought of Lisa dating someone. And it surprised him to feel jealousy flare into his chest. Why in the world would he feel jealous? And like that, it all ell into place. His mind began piecing everything together, from how she handled herself around, all the hints dropped on him by Claudia, it all made sense. His mouth opened into a surprised 'Oh' as it came to him. He hadn't notice due to his rather famous stubborn streak, always rationalizing his growing feelings about Lisa were nothing more than friendship. Now he understood what Admiral Gloval was getting at when he asked Rick how loyal he was to Lisa! He could remember clearly the Admirals woods.

 _"Would you say you are loyal to Lisa, Captain Hunter?"_

 _"Sir. She's my superior officer. Captain Hayes has my resoect and loyalty. I will support support any orders she gives."_

 _"That's very good to hear Captain, but I asked about your Loyalty to Lisa, not to her station."_

 _"She's one of my best friends sir. Of course she has my loyalty."_

He could remember the frown of epic proportions on the Admiral's face during his questioning. Gloval had said it would have to do for now and stamped his approval on the paper work that would assign Rick to the SDF-2 once she was ready for departure. He snapped his mouth closed and growled in frustration.

 _'Of course you just realized it you bonehead! You knew what you felt, and you ignored it! You're a special kind of cold hearted bastard aren't you Hunter?'_ He bitterly seethed at himself. _'Why?Why did I let myself do that? Minmei...oh God...I'm an idiot!"_

What a mess he made. He sulked through the empty streets, all the carolers having called it a night by now.

"How did I let this happen?" He wondered aloud as he continued, wondering how and when he had started to fall for Lisa.

"Well, I didn't think I'd bump into you this late."

Rick paused and looked to his left, his body going rigid as his eyes landed on none other than Lisa Hayes. She was watching him with a curious eye, and from what he could see, they were red and puffy. _'She's been crying. Why?'_

 _'Because of you, you idiot! She's probably been to Claudia's for awhile.'_ The answer came in Roy's voice, which made it even worse than him beating his own self up about it.

She moved toward him, concern etched on her face as he hadn't moved or responded to her presence other than freezing up like a deer in the headlights. "Rick? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah I'm fine." he paused before he frowned, his eyes dropping to the snow covered ground. "Actually, I'm anything but fine Lisa."

"What's wrong? Did Minmei do something to you?" Her voice held a tinge of distaste to it as her eyes narrowed. "Did you do something wrong?"

 _'So she knows Minmei is at my place. Oh this just keeps getting better and better. Good job Hunter!'_ He thought ruefully as he toed the snow with his boot. "Probably. But not how you'd think."

The two stood in silence as the wind picked up, Lisa pulling her coat tighter to her body as a she shivered. From his statement, he was upset about something. And his whole demeanor was screaming that something was terribly wrong. And it worried her. "Would you like some tea? My house isn't to far from here."

Rick glanced up and considered her offer. What did he really have to lose? He gave a nodded and fell into step beside her. The temperature was dropping fairly quickly as the cold front began passing though, giving them this icy Christmas Eve. He noticed how she was still showing she was cold and moved closer to her, linking her arm with his. She stumbled at the close contact and felt a thrill of warmth spread through her body, but it wasn't from him. Well, it was but it was a deeper warmth. "You looked cold. If you're offering tea, then I can at least keep you warm."

 _'Oh, if only you knew what I wanted you do to warm me up. But not like you even want me that way when you have little Miss Pop-Tart at your house. Like she'd even know what she's doing.'_ Her thoughts were ruthlessly surprised as her face flushed that had nothing to do with the cold wind. She was regretting the wine she had imbued with Claudia. "Thank you Rick. That's sweet of you."

They walked in comfortable silence for the next block before Lisa reluctantly pulled her arm from his and opened the door. Rick followed, kicking his boots against the door to shake off what snow he could as he entered. The house was fairly warm as the heating system kept it at a pleasant seventy degrees. He hung his coat on the stand and followed after the woman as she went about getting the kettle ready. He never really was much of a tea drinker, but spending time with Lisa had shown that sometimes, all you needed was a calming cup. He leaned against the door frame, rubbing his tired face with one hand as she went about the task before her.

"Strange to see you out so late walking." She commented idely, her tone level and not betraying any emotions.

"You as well." He muttered, his hand running through his hair. "Just need some fresh air to think. You?"

"Same thing." She curtly replied.

The silence grew uncomfortable as they waited the five minutes for the pot to boil. Lisa shooed him into the front room while she readied the cups, not willing to let him anywhere near her new kettle. That he had bought to replace her toasted one. How was it his fault the last one had caught fire? Okay, so maybe spilling that cooking oil on the flame has something to do with it, but it was an accident! Not like the story Max told Rick of Miriya lighting his stove on fire. But then again, that one was accidental as well. He grunted and dropped himself onto the couch, his head leaning back against the comfortable piece of furniture as his mind raced over his thoughts earlier tonight. He heard Lisa's approach, her socks muffling her footsteps more so than the carpet did and placed a cup down for him and held on tightly to her's. She held up a hand as he opened his mouth to speak before using the same hand to point at his cup. "Drink that first. What ever has you so wound up will make it difficult to talk about. That'll relax you enough to talk about it. What ever 'it' is."

He snorted and grabbed the saucer, taking a sip of his tea, humming his appreciation. Though it was never less than perfectly brewed to him. "I really doubt it'll help much, but you never know."

He paused and looked over to her as she took her own sip. "How much do you know?"

"I know that Miss Minmei is spending time with you." She admitted, knowing it was no use to lie. "I'm surprised you're not at home with her right now."

The accusing tone, whether intentional or not, stung deep. Rick's shoulder sagged and he sighed. "Well, you're right in one. But...I don't know. I just...after all this time, she's there! Like I always dreamed of. I should be over the moon about it! You know I've waited years for this!"

Lisa tried her best to keep her heartbreak from showing on her face. Here he was, finally confirming what she feared. She knew she'd been too late when she'd gone to finally confess to him. Then she'd seen Minmei there, kissing Rick under the mistletoe and it shattered her. She'd spent the past few hours wallowing in self pity and crying her eyes out at Claudia's. She wanted to scream at him, tell him to stop and get out. She wanted to rage at him and tell him how much he had hurt her. She wanted...but she couldn't. Not to him. As much as she may want to, she still loved this boneheaded flyboy, even though it looked like she had lost him. "I see. Well, I'm happy for you Rick. Love is something to cherish."

Rick blinked in confusion at her statement before it dawned on him what she was saying. He laughed. That was all he could do was laugh. "You think...? Oh no. No Lisa that's not it at all!"

Her brow furrowed as her curiosity peaked, and so did her hope. "What are you saying Rick then? You just said it's something you've always wanted."

"Let me finish explaining, then you'll understand." He chuckled, fighting to get his laughter under control. It took him a few minutes before he was able to continue. "As I said, I dreamed about this for years. But when it happened...it felt wrong. Like mixing oil and water. I felt like a stranger in my own home. Earlier, when she pulled a mistletoe stunt on me, it felt all wrong. We didn't even talk longer than ten minutes these past few years until she showed up on my door step, begging for a place to stay. To hide from the spotlight for awhile. When she brought up the idea of getting married...I couldn't go along with it."

Lisa listened intently, her face a calm mask while on the inside, her heart swelled with hope that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late for her. She still had a chance to finally come forth and tell him how much she loved him, his cocky grin and all. She fought to still her racing heart without giving away that she was reeling from his admissions.

"I can't see myself with her anymore. I haven't in awhile." He continued, his eyes locked onto his cup. "To be honest, when I thought about it, there was only one person in my head that fit that image of a future I wanted. And I don't know what to do."

"You said there is someone you'd rather have a future with?" Lisa questioned, still keeping her face a calm mask. "Do I know her?"

Rick flushed and prayed to whoever was listening to make sure Lisa didn't notice. "Yeah. I'd say you know her pretty well."

A slow grin began to cross her face that she hid with her cup. "Do you like her?"

"Yes. But I didn't realize it until tonight. Great timing huh?" He mused with a depressed tone.

"And does she like you?" Lisa was finding this a rather fun game as she would hopefully find out if it was herself he was talking about. After all, the only other woman he had constant contact with besides herself was Claudia. Maybe the wine had something to do with this, or maybe it was more likely she was done wasting time dancing around the issue. It always paid dividends to just be upfront with Rick Hunter.

"I'm not sure." He replied honestly, looking up for the first time since she had started questioning him. "I think so, but I have a bad habit of ticking her off."

He spotted a teasing glint in her eyes that she had tried to hide. Realization erupted as she knew what he was talking about, and if the pink snit to her cheeks was any indication, she felt the same. Feeling his confidence being bolstered by the signs, he decided to have a little fun here before he told her. _'Okay. So we're playing that game huh? Very well Captain.'_

"Really? Well, if it's who I think it is, I think you should ask her." She smirked into her cup, sure he hadn't realized what she was hinting at. "You never know what she might say."

"You're right. I think I'll ask her right now." Rick rose to his feet and Lisa's breath caught, not daring to believe he was actually going to ask her. "You think Sammie is still up?"

The color drained from Lisa's face as she sputtered, her temper flaring as was her embarrassment until she caught sight of his grin. She put her cup down and crossed her arms, pouting as he made his way over to her and sat down beside her. "Sammie."

"I was only joking Lisa." He laughed before he sobered up. "But...in all seriousness, the person I was thinking off, the one I saw in my mind as my future? It was you. I really don't know when that changed, but...if you want to...I'd like...I mean, I want...no that still doesn't sound right..."

Lisa was amused as Rick tried to speak and decided to take pity on the man. Hands like a rattlesnake, she pulled him to here and planted a searing kiss on him. Rick's eyes brows shot to his hair line, stunned, before he relaxed and melted into the kiss. He could taste not only the tea but a hint of wine and chocolate from her lips. And something that was uniquely her that set a fire roaring in his body. Seconds later, he blinked his eyes open, his mind rebooting and saw a smug smirk on Lisa's face.

"So...that was a yes I take it." He muttered.

She grinned, a preadtory glint in her eye before she paused him back and straddled him. Rick was once more taken aback from her forwardness and couldn't figure out if it was the wine making her behave like this or just pent up passion for Lord knows how long. "Uh Lisa? What...?"

Sh silenced him with a finger, her face completely serious as she kept herself a few inches from his face.

"I know what your thinking, and no, I'm not drunk." Her smoldering eyes locked onto his and a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold weather passed through him. "I've been waiting years for this Mister Hunter, and if you think I'm letting you leave here with out a reward for my patience with you, you are sadly mistaken."

All words were lost as she captured his lips once more and they lost themselves in each other. Rick's mind was completely blank as each moment that passed by the desire grew stronger and stronger as he felt Lisa's body pressed against his. His chest rumbled as he gave a low growl in response to her nipping at his bottom lip and pulled back enough to see her half lidded, smoky eyes that were making him go nuts. She gave an almost child like whine that just stooked the fire in his chest. Panting, Rick tried to get his mind to form coherent sentences. "Lisa. Wait...wait..."

He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"If we don't stop now..." He gulped, trying to still his heart rate and cool his blood.

"We'll end up in my bed."

"Maybe not even off the couch." He joked, though that was a distinct possibility with how hot his blood was running. "I'm not against the idea, but...I'm not going to push you if you want to stop here."

She blinked in surprised before she growled in annoyance. "If you think you're pushing me to do something, I have news for you."

She sat up on him and pulled her dark green sweater clear, leaving her clad in her white pink undershirt and Rick couldn't help but notice how tightly it clung to her body. "You, Mister Hunter, are mine tonight. If you want to."

He almost laughed at the sudden self consciousness that flashed across her face. He placed his hands on her hands and smiled. "Only if you're sure."

She saw his own smokey eyes trace over her body, and could most defiantly feel he did indeed want to. She leaned down, and put her lips directly next to his ear. The tingle of her breath elicted a groan from the man before she nipped his earlobe. Feeling the reaction, Lisa couldn't help but feel her feminine ego swell, knowing she was having this effect on him. "Bed room."

"Bed room."

If anyone had passed by the house that night, they'd have heard a loud squeal followed by laughter that was cut off seconds later by the slamming of a door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: In the original story line for Mars Alight, I had Rick get captured by the Zentradi and tortured. Not long into rewritting it before the initial post, I came across queenybee's Finding Forever and thought "Awesome! A way to create a way for Rick to get caught and brought back to the REF!" I ended up scrapping that idea as during the writing of it, I didn't feel that the characters had grown yet enough for that emotional link to stick very well. It lacked the impact to the storyline I wanted for it, so a rewrite was done and this was sentenced to an abyss in the data world. Please be kind as I had literally started writing this after like three years of not writing. By the way, if you haven't yet, y'all need to give queenybee a look through as there are some great stories there!**

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Times Change (Original early concept for Mars Alight! chapter one)

Rick gasped as his eyes shot open, his body felt like someone had poured molten lava into him. He struggled to grip the edge of the container he was in, his fingers slipping off from the greenish blue slim coating his hands.

"Easy Lieutenant! Easy!" A firm male voice ordered. "You're going to be alright but I need you to remain calm. We'll get you out of here."

Rick gave a whimper as the pain flared through his limbs, a hazy memory dragged through his fogged mine. Of pain and torture. He shut his eyes tightly, the lights hurting his eyes as he sucked in a great lungful of air, trying to push aside the pain coursing through his body. He could hear muffled voices all around him, but he was too disoriented to make any of the words out. He forced his slim covered lips to move, his voice coming out in a pained groan.

"Commander Hayes...safe?" His raspy and tortured throat strained to even get that much out.

"She's fine. You saved her Skipper, now let us save you."

Rick cracked open on of his eyes gingerly, barely able to make out a shock of blue hair and glasses, though the man looked different to him. "Max?"

What looked like a blurry smile crossed the man's face before Rick screwed his eyes shut once more.

"It's me Skipper. Doc? How long till we can move him back to the SDF-3?"

Rick fought to remain conscious, screaming in his mind as his thought became murky once more. His last coherent thought was how in the world is there a third SDF?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Other than some lingering pain brought on by his injuries, he appears to be in relatively good health."

"Relatively?" A angry female voice snarled in an icy tone. "Both his legs were broken, a fractured skull, multiple bruised and cracked ribs, and let's not forget his shoulder wasn't reset before they tossed him into the freezer! How is that 'relatively'?"

"Admiral, I think we should just be happy that we found him and he's alive." Max tried to placate his friend, though after that fateful day, she'd snapped back right to the old Ice Queen but even worse. No one was close to her except maybe him and Miriya. He saw her cold gaze turn to him and gave a short nod of her own agreement. Boy could she be scary at times!

"You have a point Colonel Sterling. I want the whole floor of the hospital locked down. No one but the attending staff is allowed access. Myself, Colonel Sterling, and his wife are to be allowed in. Am I clear?"

The man nodded nervously. "Y-Yes Admiral Hayes. I'll see to it personally!"

"Oh no you won't. Colonel, I want round the clock guard posted. Once he wakes, I want you to brief him on what has happened over the past ten years. Any questions?"

Max raised a single blue eyebrow. "Only a private one ma'am."

She gave an annoyed frown and dismissed the guards. Once the room was empty and the hatch was secured, she let out an explosive sigh, her icy expression being replaced by a knowing look. "Out with it Max. I know what you want to ask."

"Then why do I even need to say it?"

"Take a seat smartass."

Max dropped into the chair in front of her desk as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. The last ten years had been hard on Lisa Hayes. Between losing her father, Admiral Gloval, Claudia and the Trio, the loses had all left their mark on her. She was broken in the worst way. Khyron's final attack had taken all she had left from her and it was only with the support from Max and Miriya that she even managed to pull herself together in time to get the Gloval Initiative complete. But Max knew just what the deepest cut, the greatest burden she bore was. It was the regret of not telling Rick how she about something she had discovered not long before his heroic actions that saved not only her, but the rest of them.

"You know why I can't see him just yet Max." She spoke softly, her shoulders sagging. "I don't even know if I could keep myself from breaking down. Finding out he's alive? It's...I can't tell you how much it means for me, how I see this as a chance to finally tell him."

"I know that Lisa. And I do agree I should be the one to speak to him first. Not to be rude or anything, but I'm still just as handsome as I was when he went missing." The smirk did much to lift her spirits.

"Is that what Miriya keeps telling you old man?" Lisa snarked back, her tone amused. Max shrugged, grinning.

"What can I say? It's true love." He sobered up and stroked his chin. "If I know Rick, he's going to want proof before he believes me."

"Or he'll think it's a trap to get him to lower his guard." She began seething as the doctor's report floated to the forefront of her mind. "After the harm they did to him..."

"It would be understandable." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't going to be easy. The greatest Ace of Humanity thought dead returns to us from ten years after he went missing. Ho boy, I'm getting a headache just thinking about the media circus."

"And how do you think I'll feel after I tell the Admiralty?" She retorted.

"Better you than me." Max joked. "Just...hold off until after Rick wakes up."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick groaned as he opened his eyes, feeling like someone had landed a Zentradi battleship on his head. Which wasn't too far from the truth. He glanced at his body to see both his legs were in elevated casts and his could feel the bandages wrapped around his chest, holding his sore ribs in place. Even his left shoulder was wrapped up though thankfully it felt like it had been reset. Blinking the exhaustion from his eyes, he ignored the sun burn like feeling from his skin and looked around the room. It looked like a standard RDF Hospital room but some of the instruments look decades ahead of what he remembered. "How long was I gone?"

"About ten years. Give or take a few months."

Rick snapped his head towards the door and saw Max leaning casually against the frame. Though it looked like an older Max Sterling than he remembered. Rick blinked his surprise away. Max felt nervous as he waited for his old flight lead to digest what he just said. It had always been best to be blunt with Rick instead of dancing around the topic. He figured it was his best shot to get this talk rolling along the tracks.

"T-ten years? But...a few months at most..."

"You were in cryostasis for most of it." Max calmly replied making his way to the chair nearest the bed. "We found you in a Zentradi Prison of all things. Just who did you tick off?"

Rick stared at his friend in amazement, seeing the much more defined look of the man's face and his shorter hair. But it was Max alright! He shook his head before grinning slightly. "Would you believe a thirty foot tall alien named Khyron with a grudge?"

"I would at that. He always seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with you." Max chuckled. "Got to say, you're taking this pretty well."

Rick shrugged, or at least attempted to and winced as his body rewarded him with pain. "Yeah well, with RoboTech, I learned not to say something is impossible. Also it's pretty possible I'm in shock about this. But you do look old Max."

"Hey now. I'm not old, I'm distinguished." His grin slipped off his face and he became much more serious. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but...what happened down there?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Max never got drunk. Sure, he had the occasional beer or shared a glass of wine with his Wife when Lisa stopped over. To Max, it made no sense to get hammered when you'd pay for it the next day. But tonight, Max Sterling was truly and utterly drunk. After the opening few topics, Max had proven to Rick that he had in fact been in some kind of cryo for ten years or so. Once he did, Rick hesitantly told Max everything that had happened to him. The constant torture, sensory deprivation, electro shock, even a few waterboarding session paled towards the physical abuse he had been put through. Apparently, some of the more blood thirsty Zentradi had opted to micronize to interrogate the humans they captured in a much more...personal fashion. He repressed a snarl as the information angered him. Rick hadn't broken and eventually, they decided to toss him into the freezer to sit until they decided to have another go at him. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Rick, those Zentradi had abandoned the prison prior to Dolza's final assault and had forgotten all about him.

"That bad Max?"

He glanced to his side and saw his wife giving him a questioning look.

"Bad doesn't even cut it Miriya. They tortured him, some times for days on end." Max shot the last of the glass and grimaced as the harsh alcohol burned its way down his throat. "He never told them anything though. If he had..."

"Dolza would have won."

"Exactly. He's a hero Miriya. Point blank. He knew he could have been killed when he went after those pods that tried to capture Captain Hayes just before it all went pear shaped." His eyes went unfocused as he stared at the wall across from him. "He didn't even think twice. After that, he was at the mercy of unbalanced Zentradi Guards who used him as punching bag."

"To withstand all of that and still remain sane..." Her voice trailed off as she placed a gentle hand on her husbands shoulder. "He is truly a hero in every sense of the word. And we will help him Max. After all, he is the one who helped us when we needed it. It would be unforgivable if we did not help him in his time of need."

"I know. But I think only one person will be able to help him Miri. And I doubt it's us."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Never been able to sleep with someone watching from the foot of my bed."

Rick opened his eyes and saw the form of a woman he thought he'd never see again. Her eyes flashed in regret and her head ducked down as she uttered an apology. He smiled, tiredly to be sure, but he smiled.

"Wondered when you'd come down and see me Admiral."

"Max?"

"Wouldn't say a word. But I kinda figured you'd have been given command of this ship." Rick remarked. "Who else has the drive to accomplish this mission Admiral Gloval gave you."

Lisa stayed where she was, feeling insecure as Rick's eyes seemed to study her face. She almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Here she was, an Admiral of the REF, feeling like a nervous school girl wondering if the high school foot ball star would ask her to prom. She hadn't even intended for him to know she had been there! Damn his situational awareness. She knew that if he had thought her old before, he must have confirmed it after doing the math. She was thirty-five now and while he may chronologically be thirty, he still looked like he was a fresh faced twenty one year old man.

"You look good Lisa. Or should that be Admiral?" He joked.

She felt her cheeks flush and stomped down on that feeling as she awkwardly wrung her hands. "You don't look bad yourself, considering."

"Yeah. Healthy living and all that." He tried to joke, but it fell flat. "Max's told me some of what happened after...well he told me you ended up returning right to the SDF-1 instead of going to Earth."

She nodded her head, still having trouble keeping her emotions calm. "That's right. Not long after, Exedore came to us, offering an alliance of sorts. He and Commander Breetai did their best to find out where Khyron took you. They didn't find out until a month ago where the Prison was located and that was only after they were able to reconstruct the damaged computer data. It only gave us half the coordinates."

"The computer of the crazy Zentradi that killed himself, and took the SDF-1 with him." Rick remarked sadly, the final link to his brother gone. "Yeah, Max filled me in on that. Why don't you take a seat? I have a feeling there is a lot we need to talk about."

She hesitated, unsure if she should even do this. She knew, logically, she'd have to speak with him eventually. But could she? Could she even prevent herself from breaking down with regret? If she hadn't been so damned adamant about getting the DNA data back to Earth, he wouldn't have had to save her. To fight off the reinforcing pods while Max pulled her crippled shuttle back to the SDF-1. She could still remember watching as Rick fought back, taking out three of the pods before his weapon had jammed. Dozens of explosions rippled around him as she pounded on the glass, screaming for him to get out back to the ship. A single tear escaped her eyes and streaked down her cheek.

"I'm sorry Rick. For all you had to go through." She wiped her eyes and continued. "It's my fault you were captured and lost ten years of your life."

"Don't." His heated tone flared to life, breaking her from her guilt. "It's in no way your fault. Did you tell them to attack? No. You didn't. I never once blamed you. Not even during the worst of it. Granted, at one point I was so out of it, I think I ended up quoting the whole torture scene from Firfly. That may be why they broke my legs."

"Rick..."

"Lisa, please sit before you fall over." Rick pointed at the chair with his free hand, his annoyance in her stubborn nature plain. "There's somethings I want to talk about anyway and my ten year vacation is not one of them. Though please make sure this place get's a one star review. The food was terrible."

Lisa couldn't help the laughed that bubbled from her. Rick was once more trying to make her feel better like he used to. And once again, his humor worked. She slowly made her way to the chair and gracefully lowered herself into the seat, half a smile on her face. She watched as his eyes widened slightly before they narrowed in interest as he finally got a good look at her. She fought the urge to fidget under his stare.

"How have you been holding up since...well Max told me you fell back into the Ice Queen."

She gave a nod of her head but didn't speak, not trusting herself to speak her thoughts. At least not yet.

"Gee Lisa, you're really talkative all the sudden." Rick quipped. "If you're still debating whether or not you should tell me the truth, go ahead. I've known for awhile. If it's what I think it is."

Lisa blinked before she locked her eyes on his, thinking maybe he was bluffing or lying. And if he somehow know, Max would be cleaning the latrines for the next month on half pay. Rick seemed to guess where her mind was going with this and shook his head. "And no, Max hasn't breathed a word."

"If you know, why don't you tell me what it is?" She retorted. How on Earth did this suddenly become an Intervention? Held by the reason she probably needed one anyway? Once again, she cursed herself for even setting foot into the medical bay. Rick wagged a finger, grinning.

"Oh no Admiral. That would ruin the fun."

"Immature jerk." Okay, that kinda just slipped out.

"Old sourpuss."

Lisa narrowed her eyes dangerously at his comment, her mind playing back to the last time they'd done this. It had been the night before her ill fated shuttle trip. Rick had asked her to dinner and she'd agreed. Somewhere along the lines, they'd descended into a game of name calling all in fun. It felt wonderful to her that she could let loose. "Pig headed fighter jock."

Rick chuckled then winced as the pain in his ribs flared up. "Alright, that games over. Seriously Lisa. Just tell me. I'm not gonna run. Not that I'm in any condition to do such a thing."

She chewed her lip, debating whether she should go through with it or not. Now...well there was no need to keep it secret anymore. But how do you tell a man you haven't seen in ten years that he's a father?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This little tale was actually inspired by Second Chances by andrewjameswilliams. His concept blew me away and I was in awe of his story and it got me thinking...why hasn't anyone else really jumped onto that concept? Time Travel tales exist in almost every other fanfiction category. Well, I decided to try my hand at it. I don't know if I'll ever flesh it out as a full story but andrew buddy, this one was inspired by your amazing work my friend! They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery!**

* * *

What do you mean the Past?!

The first rays of light slowly illuminated the room. Around the walls posters of planes, whether they were simple propeller driven craft to the more advanced fighter jets, coveried almost every square inch. At least it seemed like it. Shelves were bursting with models and remote control versions of many different makes of aircraft. In the corner, nearest the door, but clear of the pile of clothes that never seemed to make it into the hamper, stood a trophy case. In that case, eight golden first place trophies proudly reflected the morning light, casting part of the room in a soft golden glow. In the bed of the room, a young man slept as the sunlight began creeping from the foot of his bed nearest the trophy case until the the light reached his face. The brown haired young man began to stir, turning his head at first away from the light before his eyes slowly began to open as the man began to wake. The light blue orbs were unfocused, which was usual for any being waking up, as he slowly sat up, stretching his arms with a small groan. The man blinked in some confusion as his mind was finally engaging itself and the last visages of sleep were leaving his body.

 _"That's odd."_ He thought. _"No pain in the joints this morning. Wait...how did I get into bed?"_

Memories began to spill into his head, going over the last details before he had lost consciousness. The disastrous test of the Neutron-S Warheads. A test he had ordered due to the math behind the weapons not adding up, something that Emil had noticed from the energy output the completed weapons gave off. He remembered the detonation, and then to his and everyone's horror aboard the SDF-3, the formation of a relatively small black hole. It didn't mean the hole in space was any less dangerous, but in fact more so from the increase in what normally would have been a slow process of pulling the disabled battlefortress into it's unforgiving and inescapable maw. He remembered the arrival of the _Icarus_ and his friend, Vice Grant's, heroic rescue attempt. How he had ordered the man he had known for thirty-five years to abandon them and get the warning to Earth about the warheads they had constructed. Constructed from plans given to them by the Haydonites. Their supposed allies. Finally, the memory of the SDF-3's destruction swam to the fore of his mind's eye. Two hostile ships that he had recognized as vaguely being a Haydonite design, attacked them. The mighty battlefortress had taken a pair of blasts that hadn't even scratched their paint, but the sudden violent death throes of his ship had brought awareness to his face of a catastrophic overload in the Reflex Furnace. A flash of fire and pain before his world became black.

His gaze swept across the room, wondering how the hell he had survived or if this was Heaven. His eye's lingered on a display case he hadn't seen since the day he left for Macross Islaand, all those years ago. Hell, even all of his posters and models were right where they should have been. The man moved out of bed, but in his haste, found himself tangled up in his blankets and became introduced to the floor, painfully. He rubbed the side of his head that had impacted the hard wood floors as he sat up.

"Okay. Not dead. Pretty sure you aren't supposed to feel pain in the afterlife." He muttered.

A sharp rap on his door before it opened, made his heart swell with emotions. Because standing in the door way, looking at him with concern, was his father. A man who had been dead for over three decades. A man that was before him, alive and well. The man silently took in his appearance before an amused expression replaced the concerned one.

"Well now. Excited to go see Roy today are we?" He chuckled.

The young man was still staring at his father, silent and shocked, before he realized what had been said.

"Uh yeah. Yeah I am." He took a calming breath before giving his Dad a small smile. "Sorry to worry you Pop. Half asleep and all." He joked, attempting to put forth the image of a young nineteen year old kid.

Pop's gave a hearty chuckle himself.

"Yes well, I can see that. Get dressed Rick. I'll have breakfast ready soon enough. Rest of the guys have shown up to go over some ideas for the circus later today, so I'll be leaving soon."

The young man, Rick, nodded and rose to his feet. He remembered all he had missed about his father, all the things he never got to say and made his way to hug the man. Pop seemed surprised but returned the hug. Rick held it for a moment before he let his dad go.

"Sorry Pop. Just," He paused, trying hard not to let his voice become think with emotions. 'Thanks for everything you've done for me Dad. I appreciate you being patient with me while I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life."

Rick had never had a chance to tell his father that, but being a father himself, he knew the older Hunter knew it already. And seeing his face soften, which wasn't very often, showed Rick he did.

"It's alright son. As I've always told you, it's a father's job to watch out for his kids. Even little cocky hot heads like you." He seemed thoughtful. "I'm a bit surprised that you realized it. Must be growing up finally huh?"

Rick turned away and started for his closet.

"Yeah Pop. Something like that."

The Elder Hunter left the room, closing the door with a small click, leaving Rick to his thoughts. How had he gone back in time? Had the last thirty-five years just been a dream? That particular thought depressed Rick. He hoped it was really time travel and not some bizarre fantasy in his mind. Did that mean all the people he had fought with and grown close to, had just been in his mind? Was Lisa even real? His heart clenched painfully as the thought of his wife entered his mind. He truly hoped she was real. But if she was, what would that mean? If it had all been real, she was still dealing with the death of Karl Riber. He remembered asking her why it had taken her four years to move on from his death and she had explained that she'd never really had anyone to help her move on from it. No one to keep her focus off the past. She had joked that Rick's reckless streak and the need to constantly keep him focused on mission had helped tremendously. But Rick had always had the theory that it was the kiss in front of Dolza that had helped chip away and melt the icy demeanor that the young woman had thrown up. It was a defense for ever getting hurt to the degree she had with Karl as if she let no one get close to her heart, she'd never get hurt again. Had she come back as well? He paused halfway through pulling his bright orange flight suit on, only secured to his waist, pondering this whole situation.

" _Come on Hunter. Think. Why would you be back in time? Why can't it just be a dream?"_ He asked himself.

A voice, powerful and wise sounded in response.

 _"It was no dream, young human. But a warning,"_

Rick gave a startled jump at hearing another voice in his head.

 _"Who are you?"_ He demanded.

 _"I am the one called Regess. The one you sought to destroy at the behest of the Children of Shadows."_

Rick felt like someone had doused him in liquid nitrogen. The Invid Regess! The one who had enslaved Earth. A white hot rage began to burn before his mind slapped it back down. The Invid weren't the true enemy. No the true enemy was the one he called ally. The ones who led a blatant attack on the SDF-3 and happily kept the dark secret of the Neutron-S warheads to themselves.

 _"You now see the truth child. We were not your true enemy. The ones you know as Haydonites, are the enemy of all who use Protoculture. The threat it brings to them has resulted in the death of all who use it in the past, and in the future. It is why we have warred with them before."_

 _"Why? Why is it a threat to them? Why would they be so hell bent on killing us?"_

 _"Because they believe only they should have access to such a powerful substance. That organic beings are nothing more than an error. Now, you know. And it is on your shoulders that we place not just humanities future, but all who use protoculture as well. Use this knowledge wisely human."_

Rick felt the foreign conscious leave his mind, while his thoughts raged over all he had been told. At the time, he had simply believed the Haydonites were sincere in creating a peaceful future for all the Sentinel Races. A humorless chuckle escaped his lips as they were right. But it was a future only for them. With the Shadow Tech they had oh so generously given them, Rick realized that they may have a fatal flaw that the Haydonites could access to use against the Sentinel Races. Realization sprang forth, bringing a great sense of guilt and shame.

"And it's my fault. I gave the order to outfit our ships with it." His blue eyes seemed to harden as his mind began to formulate a plan. "Not this time. This time, I'll listen to Lisa about them. She always said something didn't seem right with how helpful they were."

Rick finished dressing himself and made his way to the kitchen, his mind going over different courses of action. He'd change the future. And the Haydonites of this time, will find themselves in for a lot more than they bargained for.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Risk eased his Racer, a plane destroyed decades ago and scrapped for much needed parts, through the gentle skies over the Pacific. His mind began wondering as the familiar view of Macross Island and the pristine SDF-1. He felt mixed emotions upon seeing the vessel, part nostalgia and part nervousness. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar and much beloved voice that Rick had found himself missing since this morning.

 _"Attention aircraft approaching on course one zero seven. Please identify yourself."_

Rick smiled warmly as he replied.

"This is Richard Hunter, invitation number two zero one." He radioed back, deliberately using his full name.

The channel was silent for a moment before the voice of his future wife came back through, but it lacked any trace of familiarity, no trace of emotion other than simple acknowledgment of his response to her query.

 _"That's confirmed. An invitation from Lieutenant Commander Roy Fokker. Follow course five seven for landing."_

"Roger." He closed the channel and frowned.

He heard her business like tone and knew it wasn't the Lisa he had loved and who had loved him, for so many years. They had ways to identify each other in case of the same clone mishap occurring again and Rick had hoped him using his full name would have been picked up, especially since Lisa in the future knew how much he hated being called Richard. Hell, he'd never introduced himself as Richard except during formal situations and most of the time he still stuck with Rick. This wasn't a time to be formal and if Lisa had come back in time, she'd have picked up on it.

"Damn...back to square one with her. Well, at least I have the benefit of knowing how to woo her this time." He chuckled, coming in on the designated runway and taxing off to the hangers.

The shutdown complete, Rick popped his canopy and turned his gaze to the sky. He could see the Veritech fighters in the midst of their airshow. Rick had toyed with the idea of showing them up, but was glad he hadn't and continued to watch, the Admiral in him was observing the performance with a critical eye. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his cockpit, listening to the cheers of the crowd as two of the fighters streaked by each other, barely a yard or two apart. Rick waited until the show was over before leaving his Racer and making his way to Roy, the man who was in brother in every way that mattered.

"Hey Roy. Nice show." Rick greeted.

Roy grinned and clapped a hand on Rick's shoulder, happy to see his little brother.

"Rick. Good to see you again. You liked the show I take it?" He asked, leading Rick towards the pilots refreshment stands.

"Well, they're decent pilots. Not as good as me though, but still pretty good." Rick replied, shooting Roy a cocky grin.

"Hmph. No need to brag to me Rick. I know all about you winning the amateur flying competition last year." Roy stated, hiding his pride in his little brother's skill.

Rick smiled as he followed Roy to the Cola machine.

"Well, I've won more than once but hey, who's counting?" Rick joked.

"Well Pop for one. All he could talk about. But I was a little busy fighting a war." Roy reminded Rick as he ordered the drinks, passing one to the younger Hunter.

He expected to hear his little brother blow up on him, accusing him of being a killer. He wasn't expecting to see his brother take on a thoughtful look after sipping his drink.

"You know, I've been thinking about the argument we had last time you were on leave." He sighed and looked his brother in the eyes, sorrow on his face. "I'm sorry for calling you a murderer Roy. I now know you were just following orders and defending yourself from the enemy. I shouldn't have said what I did, even if I didn't agree with you doing it." Rick really had never apologized to Roy for all he had called him, and was pleased he now had the chance.

Roy was genuinely surprised and touched that Rick would apologize. He gave him a care free grin.

"Hey Rick. Don't sweat it. I know you didn't like that I joined up. You were just worried about me." Roy told him, his voice taking a more serious tone. "But I'm glad you understand now why I did what I did. Looks like you've grown up more than Pop let on last time I talked to him."

"Yeah." Rick chuckled. "I've also been thinking about maybe joining up. I mean, it's not like we're at war and I've always wanted to fly a fighter at least once in my life." He mentioned, mixing truth with a lie, knowing full well that not just one but three wars were on the horizon.

This seemed to take Roy by surprise hearing this, as Rick had made it clear last time it was brought up about him joining, that he would never join the military just so they could pervert his skills at flying as a means to kill other people. But Roy admitted that the reasons Rick gave made sense. It was a time of peace and there truly was nothing that could compare to the feeling of freedom and the raw power that came from flying a fighter jet. Roy eyed his little brother critically as the young man watched, with amusement, a young woman attempting to wave off the cola machine and deal with a small brown haired child screaming he wanted a soda. Normally, Roy would have been looking too, and while he was happily committed to Claudia, found no issue in looking at a young beauty. He'd just never cross the line past just looking. But right now, he was thinking over ways to entice Rick into joining. With his skills, he'd be one hell of a fighter pilot. And from the way Rick was talking, he was still on the fence and Roy knew just what to do to push him into joining and a sly smile slowly came to his face.

"Well then...how about I show you something? It's the reason I stayed on even after the War ended."

Rick looked up at him, curiosity on his face, even though Rick knew what Roy was going to show him, but decided to play along as the carefree little brother Roy was expecting. Both men headed off towards a familiar trainer, making Rick fight to keep the smile off his face. He kept up the facade, which wasn't entirely forced as it had been some time since he had seen an old VF-1D. Well at least in the warning he'd gotten. He still didn't know if he had actually lived it and the memories and the experience had been sent back, or if the warning had merely just imbued him with the the possibility of what the future held. Rick came to the conclusion that it didn't matter because either way, he was the same man he remembered himself to be thirty-five years from now. Roy watched as his brother gave the Veritech a walk around, examining the fighter with wonder and a critical eye that only experienced pilots had when looking over a plane for the first time.

Rick finished his walk around, having forced himself to keep up his appearance as a know nothing civilian pilot instead of the REF Admiral he was with twenty or so years of flight experience as a Veritech Ace Pilot. It would cause more problems than help if he let slip his true abilities. Which caused him to frown as he realized he'd need to play down his skills once Lisa ordered him into the air. Roy spotted his frown and he wondered what had brought that look about.

"What's the frown for Rick? Something wrong?"

Rick felt like curing himself for loosing his bearing, but quickly recovered.

"Just wondering about this fighter and it's abilities. I can see the engines are thrust vectored, but the way it's set up just looks like the plane will be far too unstable with engine nozzles as large as the ones here." He stated, bringing the first thing he ever thought about the veritech upon seeing them.

Roy gave a chuckle.

"Well that's what you'd think, but trust me when I say it's the smoothest thing you'll ever fly Rick." He gave a smirk. "In fact, how would you like to take her for a spin?"

"Really? You'd let me fly it?" His enthusiasm wasn't forced as he hadn't been in the cockpit since Edwards betrayal of the REF almost killed Lisa and cost them their unborn child.

And a chance to fly the old VF-1s? Hell, if he hadn't traveled back into the past and someone offered a chance to fly one of the old birds, he'd have given who ever it was a two rank promotion and six months of leave. He really missed the first generation Veritechs. They were a thing of beauty and the best of the series in his personal opinion.

Roy nodded, amused smirk on his face.

"Of course. I'll be backseat though, just to make sure you can handle it." Roy teased.

"If you can learn to fly one of these then it shouldn't be too hard for me." Rick shot back with a teasing smirk.

God, how he'd missed the verbal sparring he and Roy did. Even after thirty plus years, the loss of Roy Fokker had still been a painful wound. And Rick would do anything to prevent it this time around, even if he had to drag the hard headed lug to the infirmary after every battle if necessary.

"Don't be so modest Rick." Roy drawled, Rick's jab at his flying skill being a minor annoyance.

The pair climbed into the plane, both anxious, Roy because he knew this would make up his little brother's mind, and Rick because he knew what was coming. The Admiral turned teenager took a good look at the controls and was in the process of familiarizing himself with the lay out when the sound of massive hydraulic motors signaled the beginning of his new life. He turned his gaze and watched as the massive bow structure began to open, locking into a familiar, at least to him, tuning fork shape. Rick had to admit, that seeing the massive reflex cannon coalescing with raw energy was a truly mesmerizing and near blinding sight. He could feel the charge of energy in the air as the high pitched hum, see the massive build up of energy between the two portions of the bow that housed the primary energy capacitors and the main guns of the SDF-1. After several moments, the raw primal power of the SDF was unleashed with a roar of an angry god, blasting instantly through buildings and the crater wall created from the SDF's crash landing, marking the passage of the massive beam of pure energy already turning ninety degrees and shooting upwards into space. Rick heard Roy say something of checking to see what happened but Rick already knew. Two Zentradi cruisers were just destroyed or would be at any rate with in the next few minutes. With in fifteen, Breetai, his future ally and friend, would order an advance scout force to the island in preparation for his own salvage mission of Zor's vessel.

Rick watched as around him, the RDF personal snapped into motion as air raid sirens wailed to life, signaling the imminent attack from Breetai's forces. He'd asked the Zentradi Commander once why they didn't move on Macross Island in force after the attack. Breetai had told him that he had planned to see just what shape the battlefortress was in and how effective they would be at defending it. Rick barely heard Roy's comment about going to see what was wrong, leaving the young man in the unpowered fighter. Looking around, Rick started running through the abbreviated power up checklist, as unlike last time, they had taken longer to get to the trainer as the conversation the pair had was much longer than before. The sound of veritechs launching caught his attention and Rick wished them good luck as he returned to bringing the main power systems online. An angry alert blared at him and Rick jabbed the master alarm off. He already knew what he was doing would bring the reactor to run hotter than need be for the first few seconds, but Rick knew and confirmed with the onboard systems, it would cool back to optimal levels and remain that way until fully powered down. Satisfied that the systems checks all came back green, Rick chanced a glance toward the hangers, and was relieved to see the ground crew hauling ass to his fighter. He quickly popped the hatch and signaled the crew he was ready to be armed and his reserve tanks filled.

The young, crew chief hustled up ladder, helmet tucked under his arms and quickly went to work of getting Rick fully ready to fly. The Veritech Ace took the Helmet, placing it on his head and gave a double check of his gauges as the crew were working as quickly as they could. The sound of hundreds of muffled thumps and numerous contrails streaking away from the massive ship alerted them to the missile intercept systems slavo firing in counter to the enemy missile attack. Hundreds of small explosions lite up the sky as the weapons met with deadly accuracy. Some lucky missiles however, escaped the same fate as their brethren and slammed hard into the tarmac, ripping the main runway apart. The Chief mistook Ricks skyward gaze as one of impatience and motioned for the his team to hurry.

"Don't worry sir, we're almost done!"

Rick nodded as the com panel snapped on, showing the face that Rick had longed to see, even if the woman wasn't aware of how much she would mean to him fairly soon. Nor did the annoyed expression take away from that.

 _"VT-102. Why have you not taken off yet?"_ She demanded.

"Ground crews are just finishing getting my plane armed ma'am. But the runway looks trashed." Rick responded, knowing full well that the second auxiliary runway had escaped the savage missile attack.

Lisa checked another display before looking back to him.

 _"Runway Two is intact. Take off as soon as you are armed and rendezvous with your assigned squadron to repel enemy mecha."_ She ordered.

"Roger Control. Hunter out." He clicked screen off and the crew chief tapped his shoulder.

"You're all set sir! Good hunting!"

Rick gave the man a thumbs up before he closed his canopy. He waited until the ground crew was clear from his plane before feeding power to the massive engines and releasing the brakes. The orange and white trainer began to roll forward, turning to align it's nose on the correct runway. Rick braked, running through the normal checks every pilot would do, before shoving the throttle forward. The massive engines roared with power and the deadly fighter shuddered like a horse ready to burst from the gates. The brakes were released and the Veritech thundered down the run way, reaching take off speed in a matter of moments, climbing fast and maneuvering on a course that would send one Rick Hunter into the furball above Macross Island. He broke through the cloud deck and was immediately surrounded by Veritechs and Gnrel fighters engaged in a deadly dance of chaos and destruction. Rick could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and began to slip into his Ace mindset. He began scanning the skies, looking for Skull One as the communication channels were alight with the sounds of a pilots kill confirmation to the frantic cries for help and the unfortunate death screams from exploding Veritechs. It took Rick mere seconds to spot a friendly fighter being tailed by a pair of rather attached alien fighters. Rick throttled his plane forward and put the sights of his gun pod on the trailing hostile, and hesitated from pulling the trigger. He couldn't just go full fighter pilot this early, and not just because it would raise some serious red flags. For one, he knew his body wasn't conditioned enough to handle the stresses of air combat for any extended period of time. Which meant he had to pace himself and lay off some of the more impressive moves he had picked up over the years and he had to fight down the instinct to switch modes, knowing just how more effective they could be. Rick tapped the peddle just enough to place his sights just behind the enemy and pulled the trigger. The 55mm rounds missed the first one and to Rick's amusement, tagged it's buddy instead, turning the machine into a flaming wreck tumbling towards the ground.

The other fighter, having been spooked by the burst, broke off it's chase and twisted to see just who had killed his partner. The trainer blasted by him, and the Gnerl tried to spin around to pursue but found itself speared by a missile from it's earlier prey. The other Veritech pilot pulled up besides Rick, giving him a thumbs up in thanks before going back to the air battle. Rick wondered just where Roy was when the communications panel lit up again, this time, showing the face of his brother.

 _"All veritechs, Intercept enemy units at zone four two eight. Traffic is pretty heavy out here so break formation but try to keep each other covered."_

"Hey, Roy!"

Roy for his part seemed confused who was calling him until his panel switched to show the face off his little brother. Who apparently was in a veritech and if his eyes were right, had one kill marked by the on board targeting computer. Roy felt pride in his little brother as it was one hell of an accomplishment for any civilian to be thrown into battle and already have scored a kill.

"Rick! How's it feel to be a fighter pilot little brother?" Roy teased as he let loose a missile that turned another enemy fighter into so much scrap.

 _"Kinda like the flying circus with guns!"_ Rick replied before a flash of light lit up his face briefly. _"Gotta go Roy. Picked up some company."_

Roy watched the screen cut off and knew he couldn't leave his brother to fend for himself in his first combat sortie, official or not. Skull One banked hard and sped off to Ricks location, as the Admiral turned civilian pulled sharp on the stick. Rick knew to others it looked like he was having a hard time shaking the alien off his tail, but in reality, Rick was in full control of this little scuffle. Using his knowledge on the Zentradi fighters, he danced around just enough to keep from being turned into swiss cheese, but not too much to cause unwanted attention. On his scopes, he spotted Roy's fighter hurtling to him and decided to end his little game with the Zentradi.

"Alright. You've been back there long enough." Rick growled as he popped his nose up while yanking the throttle back.

The Veritech responded beautifully to his commands as the nose of the plane lifted up enough to raise the now stalling plane out of the flight path of the fighter that shot underneath him. Rick quickly shoved his throttle into the firewall and lowered the nose just enough to put the Gnerl in his gun sights. He sent a pair of longer than normal bursts of gun fire before tagging the banking alien and shredding it into a cloud of metal and fire. Rick hated having to massively tone down his skills, but he needed to act the part, other wise, well...he'd end up in a rather uncomfortable position. He just wished he wasn't alone in this. He almost missed the beeping com panel and quickly activated it.

Roy's face faded into voice, smirking at him.

 _"Not bad little brother. I see you remember what Pop taught us. And two kills already. Impressive."_ He chuckled.

"Yeah well, I guess you were right when you told me I'd be a decent fighter pilot."

Roy laughed before a second panel clicked on bringing Lisa into the conversation. She did not look amused.

 _"Commander Fokker, I take it you know our impostor?"_ She asked. _"Because I have checked all our rosters and there is no Pilot with the last name Hunter on record."_

Rick winced at the dangerous tone in her voice. He had forgotten how much of a hard ass she could be. Roy gave a knowing smirk before he answered.

 _"Well that's easy enough to explain Commander. He's a civilian. He's not enlisted yet into the RDF so he wouldn't be on any roster."_

Rick almost chuckled at the adorable expression on Lisa's face as she came to a realization that she had launched a Civilian Pilot into an air battle. Rick made a motion as if to change the channel to private two way for him and Roy before speaking again.

"Hey Roy? Who is that? She gorgeous." Rick asked, knowing full well she and all of the others on the bridge could hear him.

Rick took a glance at the display and saw the wide eyed expression mixed with the faint reddening of her cheeks. Roy gave a short chuckle as the bridge bunnies plus Claudia began to giggle.

 _"That Rick, is Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes."_ Humor dancing in his eyes, _"And next time you want to ask me something, make sure the panel is set to private you smooth talker!"_

Rick feigned embarrassment and sputtered an apology to Lisa, who seemed to become redder and redder before she cut them off with orders for Roy continue the air battle and Rick to land and get a shelter immediately as he was not a military pilot. Skull Leader countered, wanting Rick to follow, explaining that he was more of a help in the air then in the shelters, which he wouldn't know where they were. Lisa started to enforce her order when a voice Rick had not heard in many years come over the com.

 _"If Commander Fokker thinks he will be of use to us, allow Mister Hunter to remain in the air. I think he may surprise us."_

Rick fought hard to keep the joyous smile off his face from Captain Gloval's suggestion. He knew that the Old Man would never have allowed a civilian in this time to fly a military fighter, no matter how skilled. Which meant Rick had an ally on board. Lisa seemed to be surprised as well but relented, ensuring Roy knew that Rick was his responsibility before signing off. The two men come around and headed back to join the main air battle. The two brothers tore into the battle, guns and missiles leaping from their Veritechs. Rick purposely kept his shots from nailing every Gnerl he came across, and racked up another two kills, bringing his total to six, while Roy's shots were precise and his count jumped six more in the span of thirty seconds. Rick was in the middle of trying to scare a Gnerl off one of the rookie pilots who was in a state of panic, when it happened. An alien fighter had executed a text book dive and slash, punching holes along the body of Ricks fighter. The surprise at being hit allowed the Gnerl he was chasing after to finally get itself clear from the maniac behind him.

Warnings kicked in and the controls became sluggish as the onboard AI attempted to reroute the flight controls through the secondary relays as the primaries were now toast. He risked a glance in the mirrors and felt his stomach clench from the sight of oily black smoke spewing from the fresh holes.

"Roy, I've been strafed!" He called into the com, desperately trying to keep his plane in the air. "Oh no." He muttered, seeing the offending Gnerl coming in for a kill shot.

"Hang on! I got him!"

A 55mm burst tore into the fighter, turning it into confetti as the Rookie he had saved came back around and tagged the bastard.

"Thanks! Thought he had me there!" Rick said as the back up systems finally kicked in.

"No problem. Figure we're even now." The rookie responded, making Rick chuckle.

Roy's face appeared in the com panel again, worry on his face.

"How bad is the damage?"

"Primary control systems are gone but the back ups are working perfectly." Rick replied, bringing his fighter around in time to see the Zentradi retreating.

"Alright Rick, you're not going to be of any help running on the back ups." Roy told him, knowing very well that the back ups were only useful on keeping a Veritech flying long enough to get back to their base, not fly a combat mission with. "Return to the SDF-1 and land. If the repairs can be done quickly, meet back up with us in the city. We've got orders to defend it."

Rick scowled but agreed with Roy. The back ups, while decent at helping him stay in the air long enough to land instead of crash, just weren't rated for any sort of combat. They'd blow out from an overload. And he only had himself to blame. Not that it mattered as if he had opened up, well...he didn't want to think about it. He pointed his nose towards the SDF-1 and throttled to full, the trainer still sluggish from the damage.

"Control, VT-102. Coming in for an emergency landing as ordered by Skull Leader."

He knew Lisa would be pinging the on board computer to identify the issue, so he decided to just stay silent. After a few moments, she responded.

 _"Understood. Land in bay two. Ground crews will meet you there."_

Rick acknowledged the order and brought the wounded pane in the designated bay, his scowl deepening by the moment. Last time this had happened, he'd ended up demolishing half a city block. But it had also gone very differently as well. He could only hope a certain ditsy teenager survived the battle. If she didn't, then dealing with the Zentradi would be much more difficult.


	5. Chapter 5

Letters

Lisa,

Hey, sorry I haven't written you yet. Things have been really busy around here. Word from the Captain is that the big bold guy that tried to crush you is on his way with the bulk of the Zentradi Fleet. I know, scary thought. I can't help but wonder if we can even win this. But I know if you were here, you'd probably slap me upside my head and tell me to go raise chaos and destruction like I normally do.

I really wish I had told you that I love you before you left on that shuttle. Another regret to add to the dozen or so in my life. I guess they were right when they said you never know what you got until it's gone. And I know how you felt about me, Cluadia finally spilled the beans a couple days ago. To say I was shocked was an understatment. It took Max and Roy both to drag me out of the bar! Well, writing this letter to you, it was actually Max's idea. Said it'll help me to clear the air.

Well, there goes the alert. Dolza probably just jumped in system. I have to go now, but I know you're watching out for me like you always do. If I don't see you first, I'll write you another letter soon as I get a chance.

Love, Rick.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa,

I think Admiral Gloval has a pretty twisted sense of humor! I remember you telling me about it, but to see it? Dear God...I guess I gotta explain huh? You see, we got these new guys assigned to Skull. Some of pretty decent pilots but some are pretty rough to fly with. The worst is this Baker kid!

He's pretty good actually, a natural. His biggest problem is his ego. I know I know, surprised gasps from the peanut gallery. And I know what you're thinking. Yes, he reminds me of myself when I first started out. How you didn't rip out your hair or go gray, I'll never know! Tell me your secret please! Anyway, the kid is good but he needs a lot of work.

Ran them through the simulator today, using the first battle of Macross Island. He got a few kills but he ended up getting shot down with his reckless stunts! Though, can you call it shot down if you get rammed by any enemy fighter? I'll probably ask Max about that!

Oh, and Dana has gotten so big! She's growing like a dang weed! I know you already know that, but good lord that kid! Remember how tiny she used to be? Now she's a little ankle bitter! Bowie too! Both are little whirlwinds of energy!

I know you're well and I wish I could be there with you. It's hard at times being away from you, but well, things happen for a reason right! Well, gotta end this letter. Meeting early tomorrow about the SDF-2. Until I see you again,

All my love, Rick

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa,

Once more, you pulled our butts from the fire! Can you believe Khyron? Crazy bastard always loved to run his mouth! Didn't think he'd run his ship into us! And now, once again, my duty pulls me from you. I'm sorry about the SDF-2, but thankfully, we didn't lose anyone from the bridge crew. Most of the ship had been empty anyway and Khyron probably hadn't known that when he attacked it. I'm sure you already know why his information was faulty but I'm not complaining. Though, I'm half tempted to shoot Edwards.

What an idiot! He's been trying to talk the Admiralty out of building the SDF-3. Can I shoot him please? No one will miss him! I'm only kidding. Other than that, things are going great here in Monument City and we've already managed to secure the support need to get the third one up and running. I know you would have preffered to have been here to handle it yourself, but you're in no condition to do such a thing. That's where I come in!

I joined Max out in town earlier. Felt werid ya know? Granted, he's been telling me for close to three years I need to get out more. I can't keep myself locked in a room constantly doing paperwork. He acts like I have no idea how to relax! Well, it's pretty late. I hope to see you soon Lisa. I'm missing you like crazy!

Your loving Flyboy, Rick

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa,

Did you put them up to this?! You know what I'm talking about you little sneak! A promotion to Admiral and Military Commander of the SDF-3. I'm wondering how you pulled that off! Well, you already know who the Megaroad's Commander is so I won't bore you with that detail. Still can't believe it, but hey, at least I know I'll get along just fine with them ha ha!

I do want to say thanks for looking out for me. I honestly don't think I deserve such a promotion, not since...well, you know. Things are going great up here except for one detail I'm not thrilled with. They want to leave the children on Earth. I know, I hate the idea too. No one knows how long we will be gone. I'm tempted to cut Max and Miriya from the mission if you don't pull some stings on your end.

You're going to remind me that if I do that, I'd be turning my back on our friends and that I should support their decision to stay on the ship. Poor Bowie though. He loves the stories I tell and don't think I haven't noticed a few times you eavesdropped to listen in! Claudia is having him stay with her, saying that her future isn't in space, but on the ground. Feel bad though. After all, almost all of us are going and she's staying behind. Think we should all get together before launch, have one last celebration as a family ya know? Oh crap! Forgot I had a meeting this morning at ten! It's 0930 now! Gotta go sweetheart!

Loving you always, Rick

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa,

Thirty years. It's been thirty years and not a day goes by that I don't miss you. Never have I stopped loving you or regretting never telling you in person. When I started these letters all those years ago, I did it in hope that maybe you were still alive. Maybe you'd find your way back. I never gave up that hope, not fully. Even after seeing your body myself. It destroyed me Lisa. I'm still a broken man and I have never forgiven myself for your death. Every year, on the anniversary of your death, I break more and more. I remember everything from that terrible day. The day that tore you from my life. The day I swore I'd kill Khyron with my own hands. I remember watching as your shuttle lost power, losing oxygen from the ruptured hull. Your final call to me that was cut off by a missile strike. That escape pod saved you from the missile, but with the oxygen lines cut...I couldn't save you. I tried, damn did I try to get to you.

It's funny you know. All that time I wasted, chasing after Minmei, blind to the most perfect woman in the universe standing beside me. You always were so supportive of me. Always there when I needed it. God, I wish you had just spun me around and told me! Maybe...maybe things would have been different. I know you're watching over me. I can feel your presence beside me as I make the hard choices. You're in my dreams every night. And I weep. I weep because the one time you needed me the most, I failed you. And I lost you. Nothing will ever make that right. No amount of whiskey or pleading from Max to stop blaming myself will fix that.

The last thing I have of you, of my love for you, is these letters. I like to imagine you reading them, your musical laughter filling your room at the jokes I put in there, your eyes sparkling with delight as you read them. How you'd probably hug each letter to your chest in joy. How I wish I could have had you at my side all these years. To love you. I would give everything just to spend one more day with you. To feel your lips on mine. But it's not going to happen. Not even RoboTech can rasie the dead.

This may very well be my final letter to you my love. We're planning a test of the Neutron-S warheads later to confirm their effectiveness. But I'm concerned about them. The math doesn't add up and if Emil is right, then I'm afraid that they may kill all of us. I'm not afraid of my own death, far from it. I know that when it finally takes me, we'll be together again, for all eternity. No, my fear is for my crew, and for the people still trapped on Earth. I can only pray I am wrong. But if I'm right...at least I see you again. Watch over me, my dear sweet angel. No matter what happens today, I will see you either in my dreams or on the other side.

Faithfully yours for all Eternity,

Fleet Admiral Richard Hunter.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Promised y'all another update today! My update rate is going to be slower as I start work tomorrow! Hurray! And Boo! Anyway, I probably had much more fun with this than I should have, but I like this one shot very much! And sorry for giving y'all the feels in the last one. I warned you it would be sad. Anyway, even though these are one shots, please feed me reviews!**

* * *

An Unexpected Surprise

Rick shuffled to his front door of his little premade home. It wasn't much, but considering that they were still rebuilding from the Rain of Death six months ago, it was progress. A glance at the clock showed it was almost five in the morning...on his single day off this month. Whoever was knocking at his door was about to be introduced to his size ten and a half combat boot up as he broke his foot off in their back in. Just what was so important? He groggily opened the door, his right eyebrow twitching in annoyance as his left check showed the imprints from his pillow. He opened the door and the colder than average wind ruffled his already bed messy hair.

"Sorry for coming over so soon Rick, but I need to talk to you."

He narrowed his eyes as he took in the nervous form of Lisa Hayes standing in front of his door. Grunting, he stepped aside and motioned her to come in. She hurried into his home and heard the soft click as he closed it before walking past her to the kitchen. She could hear him opening cabinets, the sound of the facet briefly before a dull clang sounded from the kitchen He was either making coffee or tea, she didn't know which as his preference seemed to switch between the two on a weekly basis. Wringing her hands, she entered into the kitchen as he rubbed sleep from his eyes clad in his white undershirt and dark blue boxers. She couldn't help by smile at how adorable he looked in his half asleep state.

"Tea will be ready soon." He grumbled, reaching and grabbing the supplies from the shelf above the stove. She nodded gratefully as he set out the mugs and such while he waited the five minutes water took to boil. Rick grabbed the pot, biting off a curse as his sluggish hands had made contact with the metal side instead of the handle. "Every freaking time."

Lisa watched with mirth as Rick continued to mutter as he went about fixing the two mugs. The nervous butterflies flared to life as his tired gaze landed on her, pressing a warm mug into her hands. "Alright. What's got you knocking on my door at five in the morning. And why are you still wearing your coat?"

Lisa ducked her head, and inhaled the hearty aroma from the mug, letting the scent sooth her nerves. She took her sip before sighing. It was no use beating around the bush. "Rick...do you...well do you remember that night?"

She saw a goofy grin spread across his face as his eyes glazed at the memory, her face flushed as she felt her self esteem jump a few notches before she saw his face fall, a frown slipping into place.

"I remember you told me we wouldn't ever talk about it the day after."

She winced at his some what frigid tone. They had both been drinking that night and one thing had lead to another. She woke the next morning, one part of her screaming in happiness that she woke up next to him, the other mortified she had let it happen with out confessing her love for him. She asked him to never mention it again and had avoided him when she could until she was able to work up the courage to actually do it properly. She couldn't help the satisfied little sigh that escape her lips as she remembered much of the night.

"I...I'm sorry Rick. I just...I felt like I took advantage of you. You were so depressed that night. After all, it was released that Minmei was going to get married."

"Yeah, I was. But not because Minmei got engaged, it's because I had realized something and was betting myself up about it.." He remarked, more alert now that she had engaged him in conversation. "But I was more depressed when you started to avoid me. You even sent back the flowers I sent you as a way of apologizing as I thought I took advantage of you that night. You seemed pretty depressed too."

"Trust me Rick. You in no way took advantage of me." She confessed to him, seeing his eyes flicker and guessed she had stroked his ego if the slight smirk was anything to go off of. She also didn't need to tell him she had been depressed thinking it was him Minmei had gotten engaged to. Seeing him at the bar and in her drunken state, she wanted to stake her claim. Judging by his cocky smirk, he was more than okay with that.

"So I wasn't that bad then? Here I thought I was horrible at it."

So his ego was bruised too. She stifled a laugh and leaned back, giving him a small smile. "I have no complaints. For a virgin, you did well."

She lost it as he opened and closed his mouth several times before he gave her a glare, muttering to himself. She got her jab in to keep his ego in check.

"Seriously Rick...I admit it was wonderful." She sighed. "I...I reacted the way I did because in part, I felt I had taken advantage of your emotional state. The other...well you never really showed any physical interest in me."

"Yes I did." he corrected, his smile reappearing. "Three times if I remember right."

"Once my clothes were off yes, you did." She shot back, her nerves coming back in full force as she looked to her clenched hands. "Until then, you never so much as looked at me as a woman."

"You're wrong you know."

She looked up to him, seeing his serious expression and he clasped his hands together on the table. "There are plenty of times. The first one was after I woke up after we fell into that water tank thing on Breetai's ship. You remember what I told you?"

"That someone as beautiful as me possibly has someone back on the ship." She quoted, her face flushed again as she locked her eyes on the mug in her hands.

"I saw you as a beautiful woman then." He continued. She couldn't see his face, but knew he was still gazing at her with that serious expression. "The second instance that comes to mind was seeing you after I pulled you from Sara base. When you looked so...vulnerable. I saw the real you that day as you looked out towards Mars."

She heard his chair slide back and didn't dare move, not even when she felt him stop beside her. She felt his index finger gently lift her chin until he was looking her in the eyes from his crouched position. "And when I rescued you from Alaska Base. That moment when you leapt into my arms. I saw it then. So don't think I never noticed what a wonderful, courageous, and beautiful woman you were until that night."

She searched his face for some sign that he was just saying this to make her feel better, or merely wanting to pust another notch on the bedpost. Granted, part of her was willing, but the stronger part of her didn't want to be seen as just a someone to warm his bed so to speak. She only saw open honesty on his face.

"But...you've never said...you never showed me that." She whispered.

"You don't remember all that night then." Rick smiled gently. "I told you after we finished the first time, that I loved you since Alaska Base. You then jumped my bones the second time."

"I did no such thing!" She gasped before pausing and frowning, her memory of the night was a bit blurred. "Unless I did."

"You did." Rick confirmed before standing back up and crossing his arms over his chest. "Now. What brought you here at five in the morning and please don't tell me it was just to apologize for avoiding me. I appreciate it, but I get the feeling there is something bigger behind your visit."

Lisa grimaced and took a deep breath, locking her eyes on his. "You may want to sit down for this Rick. I'm...I'm not sure how you'll take the news."

"Oh boy. What do I need to blow up now?" He asked, partially joking as he dropped back into his chair.

"Rick...please bare with me okay? Promise you'll hear me out before you say or do anything." She looked him directly in the eye, her plea putting Rick on edge as his eyes narrowed.

"What happened? Did someone hurt you? I'll kill um!" He seethed, his mind flashing through all possibilities before she reached over and grasped his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze that calmed him some. "Fine. I promise."

She gave a sigh of relief and rose to her feet, starting to pace.

"Rick...that night...I wasn't...well that is to say..." She gave a frustrated sigh and threw her hands into the air. "Forget it. It's easier to show you then explain."

Lisa turned her back to him and untied her trench coat before placing it on the back of the chair. Rick merely raised an eyebrow as she sent him a nervous glance over her shoulder. He couldn't see anything wrong from this angle. Her uniform as always looked perfect. It was when she turned around that his eyes grew wide. He stared, mouth agape as his eyes darted from her midsection to her face, her nervous look confirming what he had pieced together. "P-pregnant?! But...how...I mean, I know how it works but...when...oh wow!"

Lisa bit her bottom lip as she watched his face cycle from blank, to surprised, to nervous, and finally settled on happiness. His hand rubbed the back of his head as he blinked the surprise away.

"I'm a little under two months Rick." She looked down at the floor, her hands resting on her baby bump that was visible in her rather well fit uniform. She had actually been wearing blouses larger than normal to hide her weight gain. "We didn't exactly use protection."

"Lisa..."

She fought the urge to run, her fear that he would kick her out of his house or suggest adoption for the baby, since abortions were illegal as humanity was down to barely half a million souls. Once more, Rick approached her and pulled her into a gentle hug, being more careful than he had ever been. She gave a shaky sob as she buried her face in his chest. "I...I don't want to trap you into anything Rick."

"You're not." He whispered. "When I sent you those flowers, you hadn't read the card. I still have it. I wanted to talk with you, give us a shot ya know? After all, it took me almost two years to realize I had already found the woman I wanted to be with. Kinda ticked me off when she started avoiding me." He scolded gently.

She gave a weak laugh, tears falling down her cheeks. "I guess you're okay with this?"

"No."

Her heart froze as she looked up, seeing his brilliant smile. "I'm thrilled!"

Rick lifted Lisa into a firm, yet gentle embrace and spun them around. She laughed as he did so, feeling slightly dizzy as he set her back on her feet, his hands dropping to her waist as he looked directly into her eyes.

"I'm having a child with the woman I fell in love with a long time ago." He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"I guess...I was worried." She admitted. She watched as Rick crouched, eye level with her stomach. She couldn't fight the tear filled smile as he rested his hand against her stomach, the look of pure happiness on his face.

"Do...do we know what the baby is yet?" He asked her.

"Not yet." She put her hand over his as Rick looked up to her. "It'll be four more weeks. I do have the first ultrasound print out at home."

"I want to see it."

She nodded her head as Rick looked back to the baby bump, his smile threatening to split is face in half. "And I can't wait to meet you! I gotta warn you now though, we're pretty crazy people. Daddy especially!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You called Skipper?"

Rick turned to Max as the man walked into his office the next day. He handed Max a folded up piece of paper and motioned for the confused man to open it, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Max unfolded the paper and flipped it around for him to see better. The moment his eyes landed on the grainy image, he knew what it was. He'd seen them before and he looked to Rick in shock before a smile blossomed across his face. "Who let you sleep with them?"

Rick glared at Max and pouted as his friend started laughing. "Funny Max."

"I thought so." He smirked before he clasped Rick on the shoulder. "Seriously though, congratulations! Who is the Mom?"

A loud angry voice caused both heads to snap towards the door way. "RICK HUNTER! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Max glanced to Rick, seeing his face drain off all color. Max recognized the voice as belonging to one Claudia Grant. Seeing how Claudia was angry about something, probably the pregnancy, Max figured out who the mother was. It had to be none other than one Lisa Hayes! He looked to Rick in awe before he grin widened to epic proportions. "Way to go Skipper!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You're doing wonderfully Captain Hunter! Just keep pushing!"

"I AM PUSHING!"

Rick winced as Lisa gripped his hand tightly. How could someone so gentle have such a strong grip? Lisa was screaming in pain, demanding they get the baby out of her.

"It's okay sweetheart! The baby is almost here! You got this!" Rick encouraged her, before wincing under her vice like grip.

"THEN YOU GOT THE NEXT ONE!" She screamed again before glaring daggers at him. "This is your fault!"

Rick thankfully, had listened to Max when he gave Rick what he called Priority One Advice. In it, he had told Rick not to disagree with Lisa when she was giving birth or else he'd be in a world of pain. Max told him he had made that mistake and Miriya had broken his arm before knocking him out. Rick told Max he had a violent wife.

"I know. I love you."

"Alright Captain, I need you to push one more time for me!"

Lisa sobbed as she shook her head, her whole being feeling weak. "I...I can't. It hurts..."

"Lisa, sweetie look at me." Rick smiled at her. "You can do this. You're the strongest person I know. We'll do this together. Alright?"

She nodded and steeled herself as Rick counted down. She gripped his hand tightly as he called out three and pushed with all her might. There was a feeling of immense pressure followed by a feeling of release. Lisa leaned onto Rick as a small wail was heard. The Doctor was smiling a she held the tiny baby and looked to Rick. "Would you like to cut the umbilical cord Dad?"

Rick gave a shaky nodded, tears in his eyes as he cut the cord with his shaky hands. The nurse cleaned the newborn up before she swaddled the infant snug in a blanket and walked over to the new parents.

"Here you go Captain."

Lisa was quietly sobbing as she took the baby into her arms, watching as the tiny fist griped the warm blanket, the eyes of the newborn upon the new mother. Rick couldn't believe how small the baby was. "Isn't he beautiful?"

He grinned, wiping his own tears from his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah he is."

The nurse watched the the family with a happy smile. "Do you guys have a name for the newest Hunter?"

Lisa and Rick shared a single look before they turned and replied in unison.

"Roy Hunter."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Little goofy story here. But it gave me an idea for a challenge for you guys! Criteria:**

 **The RDF Gang gets together for some drinks.**

 **Rick and Lisa have to be present (LisaxRick pairing)**

 **Lisa has to make some kind of confession that gets Rick thinking.**

 **Rick gets full confession the next morning**

 **Humor is a bounus!**

 **Really can't wait to see what you guys come up with! Remember, please drop a review! I need to know which ones you guys liked the most and which weren't so good! Anyway, I start work here in an hour so I may not update again today! Enjoy!**

* * *

Tell Me I'm Pretty

The SetUp was packed tonight. The Grand Reopening was in full swing as dozens filled the place, pushing it towards it past the total occupancy. The crew of the SDF-1, heroes among the people, were sequested to their own little private section divided up between four tables. Rick, Max, and vice were sitting at theirs, laughing and swapping stories while the ladies, Miriya, Lisa, Claudia, and Jean sat discussing things that would have the men scurrying away. It was a chance to blow off steam as things finally seemed to be settling down for the planet. Rick laughed as a grinning Max tossed a few pretzels at Vince as the man had put Max's glasses on his face, commenting loudly that Max must be blind as a bat with out them.

"Funny Vince." Max laughed accepting them back.

"Ever think of getting corrective surgery Commander?" Vince asked curiously.

"I had enough with aliens trying to skewer me with lasers. Not planning to have one shined into my eyes." Max retorted, talking a swig from his bottle.

"Max can fly just fine with his glasses Vince. Have you ever seen him miss the trap?" Rick challenged, eyebrow raised.

"Can't say I have." Vince conceded. "I have seen you miss it though Captain."

"Oh one time!" Rick retorted, his grin still in place as he lifted the bottle to his mouth. "I told you, Skull was handling funny."

"It's always funny whenever you fly, skipper!" Max chirped, getting a peanut bounced off his forehead and it landed perfectly in his bottle. "Well hey! That was a good shot!"

"Just don't ask me to do it again." Rick laughed. "Doubt I could do a repeat."

"Five bucks says you can Captain." Vince gave an easy grin as his baritone voice was easy to pick out in all the noise.

"My momma didn't raise a sucker Vince!"

The three men burst into laughter, catching the attention of the ladies as each looked to the cackling loons with smirks and smiles. Claudia was the first to speak, sipping her drink gracefully. "Well, it's nice to see those three finally relaxing."

Jean giggled as she watched Vince start chugging his beer as Max and Rick began chanting, hands thumping the table in unison. As they watched, Vice rose to his feet, arms held wide in pride as his friends cheered him on with laughter. The woman smirked at her sister-in-law.

"I know what you mean. I've tried everything to get Vince to relax." She laughed. "Isn't a thing I haven't tried yet."

Claudia gave musical laugh as Lisa bubbled with giggles. Miriya herself was watching with amusement, not fully understanding this but knowing it was good for her mate, "I agree. Seeing Max like this...it has been a long time."

"I agree they've earned tonight." Lisa spoke up, her own glass held in her small hands. "They've earned a bit of a break with everything that's happened. Especially Rick."

"Well Lisa. If you are so worried about Rick's stress levels, I'm sure you could find away to help him." Claudia stated innocently before giving a mock cry of outrage as she became the target for a chip to her cheek. "Well if you're going to be mean about it, we'll just cut you off right now."

The girls laughed, Miriya having understood that part of this whole meet up. "I must admit, this is most enjoyable and-What is Rick doing?" Miriya queried, her head looking back to the men's table.

All eyes snapped over as Rick, grinning like a moron, grabbed two beers as he jumped onto the table and began chugging them. The girls watched in amusement and some concern as he finished one and went right to the other. He shook his head and smacked his lips in appreciation before he let out a bellow "Who is your champion?!" To which the assembled service members began chanting his name. Vince gave a mock bow towards the Captain in defeat before Max pulled him off the table, all of them laughing uproariously.

"I'm afraid those boys are going to get in trouble." Claudia commented, shaking her head in exasperation.

"Honestly, they need this. We've been working all of our people to the bone. Besides, Max is smart enough not to let it go to far." Lisa sipped her drink.

"FIREBALL SHOTS!" A voice cried out.

"Or maybe not." She winced.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Couple hours later, several of the party goers called it a night. Rick had wisely limited himself as he watched Claudia help Jean get her husband to the cab outside. Vince and Max had devolved into a drinking contest after the larger man had bet he could drink Max under the table. The devilish grin on Max's face almost made Rick feel sorry for Vince, but it was so worth it to see Max just take down his shots with ease while Vince started to struggle, dropping the last one that signaled Max's victory. Of course, the blue haired ace was affected by the alcohol but he had a good tolerance. Especially as he, Rick, Ben, and Roy used to drink themselves stupid after big ops back on the SDF-1. His face fell as his mind brought up Roy and then Ben's unfortunate passing. Both times, Lisa had to pry the bottle from his hand, to prevent the young Ace from ending up with Alcohol poisoning. Speaking of Lisa, he watched as she stumbled towards him, her eyes unfocused but smiling drunkenly at him. He gave a short nod to her as she dropped down next to him and slid over until her head was resting against his shoulder.

"Riiiccckk."

He chuckled and sipped his pop, having switched to something non alcoholic during the drinking contest. "Hi Lisa."

"You drunk?"

"Nah. Good buzz going." He replied. "Probably pretty close though. You?"

She giggled and finished off some orange colored drink she had. "Bubbly."

"Uh huh."

"Why was Vince stumbling?"

Rick chuckled and set his glass down. "He tried to out drink Max. And lost. Horribly."

"Oh. You didn't join?"

Rick smirked and shook his head as she looked up at him, her smile never leaving her face. "No. I'm not that stupid."

"Yes you are!" Lisa giggled, slapping his arm playfully. "You can be pretty stupid Rick Hunter!"

Rick gave a mock hurt look, placing a hand on his heart to complete the look. "You're breaking my heart here Lisa!"

"You're funny!" She giggled, finishing the glass and tried to put it on the table. Rick had to intercede as she didn't quite make the table with out his help. She tried to wag a finger at him, but it was more comical than anything. He'd never seen Lisa drunk before so this was highly entertaining. "And you've broke my heart quite often you know! Only fair I break yours."

Maybe not anymore. Rick blinked in surprise, the woman beside him still smiling with her eyes shining. "What do you mean I've broken your heart often?"

"It's cause you're dense!" She slurred with a shrug, trying to sit up, but slid right back into his side with a laugh. She grinned. "Is it because I'm ugly?"

Rick did a double take before his nerves flared up. "You're not ugly Lisa! Far from it!"

"Suuurrrree." She giggled. "Tell me I'm pretty then Rick. Like you mean it."

"Lisa, you're a beautiful woman. I'm surprised you're not with any body yet."

"Only person I'd kiss is you flyboy."

Rick choked on his drink, managing to get control of his breathing. The Alcohol he had in his body wasn't helping. "W-wha?

Lisa managed to sit straight up on her own and gave a proud smirk she had, grabbing one of the half full beers of the table. Rick watched her take a swig before looking at him, her cheeks flushed from the drink. "You are dense Rick Hunter. Missing all my signs."

Rick was feeling confused, not quite following along as Lisa let out another drunken laugh.

"Miss Prim and Proper Captain Hayes!" She chuckled with mirth. "Undatable Ice Queen!"

"Where is this coming from Lisa?"

"Oh you dense man." She chided with a slur. "But, I suppose against Minmei I was bound to lose."

Rick was starting to feel aggravated, as even drunk, Lisa was being a pain and making him have to work for his answers. "Lisa, what in the heck are you talking about? Be straight with me here!"

She turned and gave a coy smile as she manged to gracefully swing herself over his legs and plant her bottom on his lap, straddling him as she placed her hands on his shoulders. She leaned forward and it scared and excited Rick to see the desire in her eyes. "I am being straight with you. Have been. I'm not into girls."

Rick's mouth twitched into a smile as Lisa grinned. She then did something she hadn't done in sometime, at least without it being a mission requirement. She kissed Rick Hunter. The man stiffened before he relaxed and melted into the touch. Much too soon though, she was pulling away and smiling like she had just won the lottery. "Get it now?"

He nodded, and moved his hands to support her as she swayed from the actions.

"Why haven't you said anything before?" He asked, his face flushing from the close contact.

His face contorted into an understanding frown as she smirked at him before replying. "Minmei."

Rick was about to open his mouth when the owner stepped over to him and gave a small smile at the sight that greeted him. The old man chuckled and handed Rick the receipt for all of them, Rick having told him he was picking up the bill for him and his friends. Seeing the total, Rick winced and made to grab for his wallet before the old man waved him off. "It's on the house Captain. Your money is no good here. You're cab should be here in a minute."

Rick gave a relieved smile. "Thanks. We'll be heading out now."

"Need a hand?"

Rick chuckled. "No. I got this light weight."

"Hey!" Lisa giggled, slapping his chest. Rick rose to his feet with a laughing Lisa. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body as he stood before she lowered her own feet. Using Rick for a support, the door made it carefully out to the curb to wait for the Taxi while the owner just shook his head and locked the door with a sigh.

"About time. Thank God for the Hayes Curse!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Why are we at your house Rick?" A still intoxicated Lisa questioned before her expression became mischievous. "Oh Rick. How very forward of you!"

Rick shook his head part in amusement, part in concern. If this was what she was like when she drank, Rick seriously was considering asking Claudia to make sure she was limited to two drinks. "No Lisa. Nothing like that. With how much you've had to drink, you could very well puke in your sleep. Also, you can barely walk even with me helping you. You'd have passed out on your doorstep."

Her face screwed up in concentration and Rick let out a soft chuckle of how cute it looked. Her face brightened and she gave an enthusiastic nod. "Probably. I feel so good right now though!"

Rick managed to get the door open and the pair entered, Rick making sure to keep a steady hold on the drunk woman. "Yeah. But you'll be regretting it tomorrow."

"Don't care. Feel good." She said in a sing-song tone. "One night, no pain."

Rick winced at her joyful tone. She'd said that a few times and he knew now what she was referring to. _'I really am an idiot.'_

"Rick." He almost jumped out of his skin hearing her purr his name. "Do you like me?"

"Lisa..." He groaned. "Lisa look. You're pretty out of it. Besides, there is a good chance you won't remember any of this once you sleep off the booze."

"Oh." She paused before her grin returned. "Then you can answer anyway!"

Damn...she had a point there. But even though she wouldn't remember, he would. And if she never remembered his answer, that would hurt. But...wasn't she dealing with the same thing? "Yes Lisa. I do like you. A lot."

Rick managed to get a giggling Lisa into the bedroom and set her down on the bed where she fell back with a bounce before propping herself on her elbows, her long hair pooling behind her on the bed sheets. "Are you going to have your wicked way with me? Can I have your baby? I reaeeaaallly want one with you."

Rick's face blazed red as she cocked her head to the side, that gleam in her eyes doing funny things to him. "No. Not tonight Lisa."

She pouted as he helped her lay down, pulling her shoes off and pulling the blanket to cover her. "What about tomorrow night?"

He couldn't help but smile. Well, she was persistent as usual. "You'll have to ask tomorrow. Get some sleep."

"Can I have a kiss first?" Her pout was still in place, looking up at him with her best impression of a puppy. Rick felt his resolve crumble before he sighed and nodded, making her give a bright smile. He leaned down, trying to kiss her cheek, but a drunk Lisa was a forceful one. She redirected his lips to hers. Rick felt warmth flood his body as he pulled back, Lisa giving him a dreamy look. "I hope I remember that!"

"Get some sleep you." Rick straightened up and headed for the door, finger over the light switch. "I'll check in on you in a bit."

"Night, my flyboy." She yawned and closed her eyes. Rick watched for several minutes, until he was sure she had completely passed out, giving her a small smile.

"Night Bright Eyes."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick winced as the sounds of retching reached his ears the next morning. He gave a short knock on the bathroom door, hearing a rather grim and weak Lisa respond. "Come in."

He entered just as she retched again, her face obscured partially by the bowl as the sounds of chucks hitting the water made his own stomach twitch in response. With some empathy for her, he stopped down next to her hunched form and gathered her long hair up, rubbing her back in a soothing motion as she shuddered once more. "Hey."

She sat up, wiping her mouth with a shaky hand. Her voice sounded. "Hey. What did I drink last night?"

"Around sixteen drinks. Fuzzy somethings or whatever they are called." He supplied as she turned green and hunched back over the bowl.

"On God..." She moaned, dry heaving. "Why won't this stop?"

"You were pretty far gone last night Lisa." Rick informed her. "Got to say, it was the first time I've ever seen you so care free and open."

She screwed her eyes shut and fought down the urge to vomit once more, even though at this point, it would be nothing but bile coming up. "Please tell me I didn't do something embarrassing."

Rick chuckled at the pleading tone. "Get yourself cleaned up. I'll put out some fresh clothes to wear. Their men's clothes so you'll have to deal with it. Unless you plane to wear that cocktail dress again today."

She gingerly rose to her feet as Rick headed back into the bed room, rummaging through drawers. "Oh no...what did I do?"

She raked her brain, trying to dredge up a memory as she went about getting the shower ready. The last clear memory was Max calling out fireball shots. Then, she was handed what Claudia had called a fuzzy navel. Well it certainly made her memory fuzzy, that's for sure. She'd ended up ordering a second one but that's were her memory became hazy. Stepping under the warm spray, she sighed as she felt the sweat and grim wash off of her, her head still throbbing quite painfully. Not to mention she felt like she'd swallowed a crate of live eels. What else happened? She remembered vaguely talking to Rick before they left. The conversation was a blur to her as she frowned. She could clearly remember calling him an idiot though. Did he try something? No, Rick, while having a head as dense as granite, was a true gentleman. He would never take advantage of anyone in that state, let alone one of his friends. Realization flashed through her and she let out a pitiful whimper that had nothing to do with her current hang over.

"Oh God..." She clasped her hand over her mouth, remembering part of what they had talked about."I kissed him!"

She buried her face in her hands, her cheeks flushing as she partially remembered how forward she had been. She'd sat on his lap and kissed him! She bitterly berated herself as she had probably now made it extremely awkward for him! "Oh great move Hayes! You've set the cat among the pigeons now!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick smirked as she watched Lisa enter the kitchen, grabbing the door from as she messaged her temples. He went about his work in fixing a light breakfast for them as she made her way towards the counter. "Rick?"

"Breakfast will be ready soon." He smiled at her, his expression telling her they'd talk afterwards. "Take a seat."

Lisa gave a sigh and shuffled to the table, taking a seat furthest from the bright sunlight spilling through the window. Rick for his part thought she looked adorable in his black RDF sweatpants and the mostly too big white shirt he had set out for her. Contrary to some of the rumors, he didn't have any woman's clothes tucked in a drawer somewhere. "Feeling better?"

"A little." She meekly responded, placing her head on the table. "My head still hurts though."

"Once you get some food in you, you'll feel a bit better."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa gripped the coffee mug in front of her, her breakfast long since eaten as she tried desperately to look Rick in the eye. Things had been going okay besides her embarrassment at her actions last night, at least the ones she could remember. She winced as Rick sat down next to her.

"You wanted to talk about last night."

She gave a small nod.

"As I said, you were pretty out of it." He commented, sipping his cup. "From your expression, you remembered some of it."

"There's more?" She asked, mortified. "Oh God what else did I do besides kiss you?"

He smirked and leaned back. "Well, for starters, you were very...affectionate last night."

"Oh no!" She buried her face in her hands. "I don't even think I want to know now!"

Rick gave a gentle laugh and began to rub her back, feeling her relax. "It's not all bad Lisa. Actually, I'm glad you finally told me. Not that you had to be drunk to do it, but hey. Least I know now."

She gave a small shudder before she rested her head on her forearms, upset at herself for what she had done. "This is why I never drink. You probably feel awkward with me right now."

"Hey. It's okay. I'm perfectly fine." He assured her. "In fact, I'm a little confused how you thought Minmei was in anyway better than you."

"You never showed an interest in me." Her muffled and sad voice responded.

"True." He conceded. "But that's because I thought I had no chance with you. Not after I put my foot in my mouth in the beginning."

"Or constantly." She offered.

He laughed in agreement. "Or constantly."

She peeked up at him, turning her head ever so slowly.

"Did I really ask you to tell me I'm pretty?"

"You sure did."

She groaned and buried her head back into her arms. "I'm sorry Rick. I shouldn't have done that."

"Well it was no worse than when you asked if I was going to have my way with you." He grinned as he saw red flare up on the back of her neck. "You even asked if I would have a baby with you."

"Please tell me you're joking." She pleaded. She looked up and saw his face, seeing no indication he was making that up. She let out a groan and covered her face. "Please. Kill me now."

"Does that mean you don't want to have a kid with me?" Rick's voice held a tinge of hurt to it. "To be honest, I'm not against the idea. But I think we should probably start with dating first."

She blinked and sat up straight, turning her head to face Rick, the throb dulled from the aspirin she had taken before they ate. "You mean...?"

"Only if you want to." He said gently, his hand still on her back. "I admit, it was a lot to take in but...I think we have a good chance at making it work. We have a good foundation for a relationship and we've been friends for a while. I'd like to try."

She hesitantly reached over, seeing his gentle smile and laced her fingers with his. "I...I'd really like too. Are you sure though?"

"Never been more sure in my life." He confirmed. "It won't be easy, but...well like I said. I think we have a really good chance here."

She gave a small smile and nodded her head. "Do me one favor first though Rick,"

"Anything."

"Tell me I'm pretty. I want to remember your answer this time."

For the first time in her life, Lisa thanked God for the Hayes Curse when it came to drinking. After all, there were no more honest drunks in this world than a Hayes!

* * *

 **Rick and the guys drinking? Aside form the pilot talk, that had went down almost exactly like my going away party when I left the Marines. Including jumping on the table and shotgunning two beers, though I tried to do two at the same time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This one came to me from reading chapter 10 of Darkest Before The Dawn. I really like this one. I kind of mixed Khyron's normal crazy with some Emperor from Star Wars and the Joker from Batman. It turned out better than I thought. Anyway, leave a review and let me know what ya think,**

* * *

Operation Starburst

Rick walked quickly across the tarmac towards the gathered group of officers and what looked like reporters where he could see Admiral Gloval speaking but was unable to hear from this distance. He'd been called by the man himself to report immediately to base. The voice had been grim and Rick found himself worried about what it could be. Not too long ago, they had suffered the lose of the Matrix to Khyron and his forces. He knew he should have posted a heavier guard then what the Mayor of New Detroit had wanted! Instead, it had been guarded by maybe a dozen or so Spartans instead off a complete company of Tomahawks, Phalanx, Vanguards and maybe a WHR or two like it should have been. Something that important as important as a Matrix should have had all those resources. But no, he'd backed off to avoid any kind of political repercussions against the RDF. For all Rick knew, it tied directly to whatever it was the Admiral wanted to speak about.

"Oh Rick!"

Rick barely managed to prepare himself before the dark haired form of Minmei impacted into him, her arms shooting around his waist as she sobbed. He blinked in confusion and gave her an awkward pat on her back. It hadn't been that long since he saw her at New Detroit, but before that, he hadn't seen or talked to her in the proceeding two years. A quick check showed one Lynn Kyle glaring at him, mustering all the heat Mister Kung Fu master could which didn't even appear like a blip on Rick's radar. He'd had thirty-five foot aliens try to squash him under their boot. Kyle wasn't even a threat. The girl currently clamped to him was wracked by grief stricken sobs that put him more and more on edge.

"Minmei. What happened?"

"Oh it was terrible Rick!" She cried, burying her face into his chest. "They came for us Rick! They wanted to take us somewhere!""

"Who Minmei? Who tried to take you somewhere?"

"The Malcontents." Kyle's rather disliked voice spoke up. "They wanted to use us as bait against you and the rest of those warmongers you call friends."

"The less you say the better." Rick snapped, losing his patience with the man. Before he looked back down to the completely broken down Minmei. "Look, I know it was probably pretty scary but they didn't get you. You're here, and no one is hurt or taken. It'll be alright."

"They took Captain Hayes!" She wailed.

Rick froze, his body going rigid and all color drained from his face, his voice strained from the shock coursing through him. "They what?!"

"We stopped because I wanted to talk to her. When they tried to grab me, she pushed me away from them! They got her though!"

There were three specific sides to Rick Hunter that most only saw two of. His professional Officer side and his goofy off duty side that had a tendency to speak with out even running it past his common sense first. Rick had used to joke to his friends that they'd see his other side if someone was stupid enough to push him to use it. And right now, the cold anger in his eyes coupled with the harsh, dangerous expression on his face made Minmei recoil back from him. He didn't say a word and turned towards the locker room when Minmei grabbed his arm. "Rick! No! You can't go!"

"Let go of my arm."

She flinched at his cold tone but didn't let go. "No! You're going to get yourself killed if you run off Rick! Is she really worth you risking your life?"

Minmei began to wither under his harsh gaze, knowing that didn't come out like she had intended it to.

"Yes she is. Let go of my arm or I will remove yours."

Minmei's eyes welled with tears, hurt on her face. "Why Rick? What makes her so much more important to you? Why has she always been more important in your life than me? She wouldn't answer me when I asked her what hold she had on you!"

That was the last straw. Rick yanked his arm away from her, causing Minmei to yelp in pain as if she was burnt. Kyle's eyes flared with anger and he let out a bellow, charging Rick. Not letting the Kung Fu Master even finish what he was intending, Rick twisted his body weight and caught Kyle in the throat with his forearm. The attacking man stumbled back, his eyes bulging and let out a strange rattling gasp as he tried to breath. Rick didn't hit him with enough force to collapse his wind pipe, but more than enough to make it...uncomfortable for him to breath. Kyle fell to his knees, his hand's gripping where he had been hit as Rick looked down at him.

"Sorry about the throat. I bet you had some words you wanted to say, but I'm not in the mood to hear them. I'm needed elsewhere at the moment." He turned and sent the most heated glare he had ever used right at the fearful woman. "Don't ever contact me again."

With that, Rick began running to the locker room to get changed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Rick! Wait up!" A voice cried out as Rick began yanking the ladder out from Skull One's nose. He spared the approaching man with a single glance before turning in some surprise.

"Just where do you think you all are going?" He demanded, knowing they were taking up his time. Every second they delayed him was one more Lisa was in Khyron's grasp. He would kill the stupid bastard for even thinking of abducting the young Captain. Max smirked and crossed his arms as a tall figure made their way towards him. Admiral Gloval was favoring Rick with a calm look, but Rick bet the Admiral wasn't too happy he had laid out one half of the most celebrated pair on the planet.

"Captain."

"Sir." Rick paused momentarily before he locked his eyes to the tall Russians. "Admiral, with all due respect, no one here is stopping me from going and getting Lisa back. If any of you think for one moment I will even entertain that idea, you need a shrink."

Gloval raised a hand, asking the enraged Captain for a moment to speak. Out of the respect Rick had for the man, he gave a short nod.

"It was not my intention to stop you." He began. "We have a forty-eight hour deadline and while Khyron is crazed, he does stick to his word. We need a battle plan to get her back and ready in the next four hours."

"Already have a plan sir. Standard RDF Warfighting policy. Arrive on station, kill any Zed stupid enough to get in my way, grab the hostage and Leave." Rick paused half way through his sarcastic rant. "Oh, and if I'm really, really lucky, I'll get to splatter Khyron's brains across the floor."

Max was slack jawed at Rick's blatant disrespect of the Admiral, while the other pilots were silent in shock. They'd never heard Rick speak like this. Let alone to Admiral Gloval. The Admiral, for his part, kept his expression calm as he looked at Rick. "You have four hours to have a plan on my desk before you leave Captain."

Sir! We don't-" Rick began until Gloval cut him off with a harsh tone.

"You will have a battle plan put together Captain! Or I will have the MPs lock you in the brig until after the mission is complete." The man's gaze softened as he placed a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Please, Captain. Let us do this right and get our girl back! We have all lost too much these past few years."

Rick's defiance held for only moments before he faltered and nodded. "Very well sir. I'll have a plan ready."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa woke slowly, wincing in pain the flared from her body. She blinked slowly and looked around her, seeing she was in some sort of holding cell. She remembered bumping into Minmei in town and talking with her briefly before Malcontents arrived in force, trying to abduct the young woman. Lisa had reacted quickly, pushing the young pop star clear and ended up getting grabbed instead. The Malcontents tossed her into some box, the impact knocking her unconscious. And now, upon waking, she could tell she was in danger.

"Ah...our guest has woken."

Lisa's blood went cold as Khyron steped into the light, a sneer ever prevalent on his face. Behind him, Azonia watched with a scowl on her face. "They grabbed the wrong one Khyron. I do not feel the plan will work as effectively."

Khyron gave a dark chuckle as he approached the cell, his eyes dancing with an insane light in them.

"Ah, my dear Azonia! You must learn to think on your feet!" He chuckled. "We may not have their sorceress but was have gained something just as good. Surely you recognize Captain Lisa Hayes?"

"I do. I still don't understand how this helps anything."

"My dear, with the rising star in the Mirconian Military they will be even quicker to react! The fear of the military secrets in her mind will force them to rush to save her."

"I thought we were after the Micronian ship?"

"We are my dear. We are." Khyron nodded to himself. "But this will make the coming battle even sweeter! I had hoped to grab the sorceress as that blasted Skull One seems so attached to her. But this...once he arrives, we can kill him, weakening the Micronian Military more than sufficiently to effect our capture of the fortress."

Lisa listened in silence, her mind running over everything Khyron had just stated. He spotted her concentration and nodded with a smirk. "Oh yes. My true goal is to remove that pesky pilot your people have hailed as the Greatest Ace in history. Once we show his mangled body to your planet, their resolve will crumble and we will march to the victory we have been denied for so long. I'd enjoy your last few hours of life Captain, as whether he arrives or not, I'm killing you in six hours."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick eased himself forward, his flight coming in fast at barely five hundred feet above the plain. Catseyes craft redirected to an AWACS roll were the eyes and ears for the approaching attack force. The sun had already fallen as they approached the compound not far from New Boise in Idaho. The plan called for the two veritech squadrons to approach close to the terrain mask while Hawkeye, their AWACS, blanketed them in ECM to prevent any targeting systems or infra red sensors from picking them up. They were under strict radio silence to avoid Khyron knowing where they were. Big Ugly knew they were coming, but not from where. He'd be stupid to think they wouldn't launch a rescue mission as soon as they could. Almost to answer Rick's unasked question, his radio came to life. That meant they were minutes from the objective.

 _"In sight of objective. Balls in your court Knight."_

"Roger Hawkeye. Keep your eyes peeled for any uninvited guests." he quickly toggled the all com to speak to both Skull and Viper. "Alright kiddies. Rest stop ahead. Feel free to stretch your legs. Don't forget to grab a souvenir on your way out though."

The amused confirmations rolled in, but Rick wasn't fully listening. _'I'm coming Lisa. Just hang on!'_

The first indication anything was wrong was a flurry of laser blots shooting up to meet them. Rick nimbly darted around, avoiding a trio of bursts that would have surly turned him into a flaming wreck. The com came alive with colorful chatter from the other pilots. The rookies had it worst as this was their first combat mission. _"Viper nine! Chuckles! Chuckles punch out!"_

Rick took a quick glance and watched as Viper Nine piled into the ground in a bright explosion. Viper Six, his wingman followed, turning into a massive ball of fuel and metal as she had informed the others that Nine hadn't punched out. Rick saw two more Veritechs, these from Skull flash out of view from the thickening. "Hawkeye! How about some ECM cover here?!"

 _"Little busy here Knight!"_

Rick looked up in time to see the Catseye flash overhead, five pods screaming in on his tail. "Specter, can you assist Hawkeye?"

 _"I'm on it skipper!"_

 _"Frack that's some heavy tipple being thrown around here!"_

"Viper, move to suppress the trips. Skull, let's keep the Zeds from bouncing them!" Rick barked his orders, watching another veritech spiril towards the ground in flames, though thankfully, his sharp eyes caught the sight of a unfurled chute.

 _"Starburst lead, Cerberus Team. We're locked, cocked and ready to rock!"_

"About time Bugs! Where were you guys?" Rick demanded, rolling away from an incoming surface to air missile. "Oh that's just not right! Badger, Zeds have some SAMs. Possibly stingers. Watch yourself!"

 _"Took a wrong turn at_ _Albuquerque_ _. You want these party favors or not Knight?"_

"Sure, send the gifts! Beacons have been dropped."

 _"We got um! Might want to stand back a bit. Trust me, it's gonna be a blast!"_

Thirty miles from the battle sight, three Monster HWRs braced themselves in the evening light, their four massive barrels that were capable of limited independent targeting, swiveled on their mounts as the massive metal slabs locked down on the hard, dry earth. Inside the middle HWR assigned to Cerberus Team, Matt 'Bugs' McQueen double checked his guns as his two other crew mates prepared the massive behemoth to fire the Quadruplets as they liked to call the 400mm gun battery affectionately.

"The kids are ready Bugs."

"Roger that. Step Child, you ready over there?"

 _"You know it Bugs! Me and Screech are green light!"_

"Let's drop the bass doc!"

The massive 400mms fired with a frightening boom as the barrels recoiled back from the blast, rocking the massive three hundred and seventy ton power house on their legs, the massive spent shell casing flung clear of the breech and hitting the ground with a thud. The mighty guns spoke twice in succession before Bugs got on the com to Starburst. "Better hold on to your teeth Knight! Ordinance in coming!"

Rick gave the order for his people to break clear as the first salvo slammed home. Massive explosions tore through the west wall of the compound, sending shrapnel and body parts flying. The next two hit the tightest pockets of triple A, wiping out dozens of the mobile laser turrets that the Zeds had brought to the gathering. Rick watched in awe as the 400mm shells laid waste to their targets as his com flared to life.

 _"Knight, this is Hatchetman. We just saw the fireworks. Can we go now?"_

"Hatchman, you're clear. Viper, provide close air support for Hatchman and his boys. Skull, keep the skies clear. Skull Two, you got the reigns." Rick ordered, banking his craft and diving towards the deck. He spotted the 25mm autocannon fire from the lead Tomahawk moving towards the blasted out wall as a mixed group of Spartans, their 180mm mortars flying as they fired their own lighter weapons, and Tomahawks moved forth, the missiles packs open and unleashing a hailstorm of fire into the Zed defenders.

 _"What about you Skull One?"_

"I have a special package to pick up before the store closes."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Rick entered the building, the gun pod held tightly in Skull One's steady grip. He barely entered into the room before the lights cut out and a single bright spot light kicked on directly over what looked like a glass holding cell. His eyes landed on Lisa as she was shaking her head and pounding on the glass. He started forward but stopped as an alarm blared to life. Rick readied himself as he scanned the area until he noticed Lisa gripping at her throat and beginning to slump to the ground. "Lisa!"

"Ah uh! Not one more step Skull One." A much hated voice chuckled from the shadows, "If you move from that spot, the rest of the thinning air in that box will be sucked out. And she'll die."

"Khyron..."

"Oh and I would try to leave either. If that impressive machine of yours so much as twitches the wrong wrong way or you try to call for help, she dies. I've always been curious of how the micronian body reacts to a hard vaccumm."

"Let her go!" Rick snarled, his finger hovering over his trigger.

"Now now Captain Hunter. Where would the fun be in that?" Khyron laughed. "Oh, and did I mention that for every moment you remain seated in that machine, the air will continue to be pumped from the chamber? If you want her to live longer than a few minutes, I suggest you power down your fighter and step clear of it. And you can't very well shoot it open or you might hit your precious female."

Rick's eyes never left Lisa's form as she struggled to breath. He only had one choice. "Fine."

The mighty Skull One shut down with a repressed whine from it's systems and Rick quickly climbed form the cockpit, grabbing his laser rifle as he did so. Once his feet touched the ground, he could hear the hiss as life giving oxygen was pumped back into the chamber. Gripping his weapon, Rick began taking a tentative step, his eyes sharp and alert. "You can approach the chamber as you are Captain. No penalties will be issued for that. Besides, I am most curious to see what you do."

"You don't want know what I want to do to you right now you bastard." Rick seethed, moving forward.

"I can wager I have an idea, though I must confess to so confusion." The voice echoed around the room, making it impossible for Rick to zero in on the source. "You see...I have watched you and learned about you. You are after all, my greatest opponent. What better way to kill you then to learn your weakness?"

Rick remained silent as he walked though the open space, his eyes darting around and looking for any sign of moment. Khyron was not put off from Rick's lack of responding and pushed on.

"I discovered the most interesting fact about you! How you feel this so called 'love' for your sorceress. And I finally had your weakness! All I needed to do was take it! But instead, my men captured this feisty female. At first, I planned to crush her. She was useless. At first." Rick could almost feel the dangerous smirk from Khyron. "Until I saw a rather intriguing broadcast earlier today! How you so heatedly shunned your supposed love upon learning who was captured. Though I must applaud you for your impressive display against the foolish human that tried to strike you. That gained you a small sliver of my respect."

"I'm honored." Rick shot back, his voice laced with venom.

"You're being a very poor guest Captain. One more and I will asses a penalty!" The threat was clear as Rick reached the chamber, kneeling beside Lisa as she placed a hand against the glass. He could see her mouthing his name, unable to hear her. "Oh, I suppose I should allow you to speak. Please do make this entertaining!"

A speaker popped with static before he heard Lisa's voice. "Rick! You came for me!"

"Yes. Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here...some how."

"Rick!" Her eyes locked onto something behind him. "It's Khyron."

Rick felt his blood boil and rose back to his full height, turning with his rifle raised. But he froze as the crazed Zentradi stood across from him, one hand holding a remote of some kind, the other thumbing a pistol he had attached to his hip. What really got Rick was that the Zentradi had micronized himself! "I wouldn't pull that trigger Captain. You do, she dies."

Khyron sneered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"We are going to play a little game before I kill you. The rules really are quite simple. If you don't go along, she dies. If I feel you are being dishonest, she dies. If you so much as move from where you are standing right now, she dies. And if you don't toss your rifle away in the next fifteen seconds, she dies. What do you choose Captain? Kill me and end this, which brings about her death? Or follow my instructions and she lives."

Rick wanted nothing more than to pull the trigger and splatter his brains across the floor, but he would not, could not chance Lisa getting hurt. With a snarl, Rick threw his rifle away, sending it skidding to his left and into the shadow. Khyron gave a mock applause. "Very good Captain! She lives for now, bravo! But for how long I wonder?"

"Fuck off Khyron!"

"Tsk. I see I must enforce proper manners on you. Penalty."

Rick spun around, hearing the hiss as the air was slowly sucked out, Lisa's eyes wide as she tried to claw at the solid glass wall. Rick slammed his fists against the glass repeatedly before he turned to Khyron, his rage barely contained as the damned man just smirked, "Alright! Alright! You made your point! Just stop!"

"Ah uh! You didn't apologize for such foul language in my home Micronian!"

Rick swallowed the taste of bile that rose in his throat as he spoke. "I'm sorry for cussing in your home."

"Penalty rescinded!" Khyron announced joyfully and tapped a green button. "I suggest you keep such words to yourself. Now, let's begin shall we? Why did you show such atrocious behavior towards your so called love?"

Rick really didn't want to play along but knew if he was going to have any chance of saving Lisa, he had no choice. "My feelings toward her have changed. Probably a while ago, I hadn't fully realized it until today."

"Ah yes. Let us touch on that rather 'hot topic' I believe the phrase goes. You micronians and your quaint little ways." Khyron chuckled. "Why did you react so strongly to hearing about Captain Hayes' capture?"

"She's my friend and comrade. I would do the same for any of my friends!"

"You're vaunted friendship. They will be your undoing I'm afraid." He smirked. "But you did answer my question. So we move to the next. Would you have really tossed away your weapon if any one other than the Captain was in that cage? Passed up a chance to stop this war brewing in your streets?"

Rick really wanted nothing more than to strangle the man. To beat his face in until it was nothing more than a meaty paste. But the answer came to him just as quickly as the last. "I would risk anything for my friends. It wouldn't matter who you had in there. I'd do anything to save them."

"Hmm..." Khyron's eyes narrowed as his smirk widened, the delicious irony that was now painfully obvious to him made this oh so much sweeter. "Do you love this female? As you once did your sorceress?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rick felt his cheeks flush as he considered Khyron's question. Behind him, Lisa was panting as she tried to rise to her feet, but the broken leg was preventing her from doing so. But the worst pain she felt was hearing Rick's answer. It destroyed her and it amused Khyron to see her despair. "No. Not even close."

"Oh I can see the truth burning in your eyes! And the pain in hers is such a rich and delicious look." He laughed before he sneered at the man. "But I can see in your eyes there is more to say on the subject. What are you not saying Captain?"

"I..." Rick stopped, his mind racing as he thought of what Khyron was saying. He knew he cared for Lisa, had gained strong feelings for her. But he'd always chalked it up as only towards their friendship. His eyes widened as he fully realized just what he felt for her and turned to face the cell. He could see her slumped against the glass, her head handing down. A quiet sob escaped her that the speakers picked up. He placed his hand, against the same spot hers was as he answer, his voice almost a whisper. "I love her far more than I ever thought I loved Minmei."

Lisa looked up slowly, her eyes wide at his answer and searched his eyes for any indication of a lie. There was none. "Rick..."

"Oh this just makes this so much better!" Khyron crowed and pulled the sidearm from it's holster. "Game is over now. Be a good micronian and die!"

The pistol report echoed loudly in the room followed by Rick's anguished cry. The man dropped to the ground, griping his left shoulder. Rick struggled to rise back to his feet and faced Khyron, a murderous look on his face as the Zentradi eyed the pistol with a critical eye. "Such a primitive weapon, but effective."

The revolver spoke once more and Rick dropped to his knees as the second shot hit his leg, a few inches below his knee. Khyron watched in dark amusement as he stepped forward, cocking the hammer back again. He saw the Micronian before him double over.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen." He cackled "Any last words?"

Rick muttered something, and Khyron made the mistake of pausing. "Please speak up. It is rude to mutter to someone."

Rick looked up, his eyes cold and his expression thunderous.

"You should have had me toss all my weapons away!"

Rick surged forth like lightening, the pain banished from his mind as he sunk the sharp blade all pilots carried on their person into the Zentradi's jugular. Khyron gasped in surprise, dropping the remote in his hand as he reached up to pulled the knife from his throat, feeling the blood oozing from the severed artery. Rick's hand shot out to catch the device and thumbed the button that he recognized that said open before he pushed the weakening Khyron back from the cage. The Zentradi struggled to pull the knife out but with his ebbing strength, he knew he would fail. His eyes dimming, he gave one last snarl before he went still. Rick hissed in pain as he hobled on his good leg towards Lisa, who was trying to move past the cell opening. "Hey. Easy. Ground forces are coming so we can just rest for awhile."

Lisa nodded and winced as she tried her best not to jar her broken leg. She gave Rick a shy look that was only broken by her pained wince. "Do you...were you telling the truth?"

Rick nodded, and despite the current situation, smiled. "Yeah. It took Khyron kidnapping you for me to finally realize how much I care for you."

Lisa returned his smile with a small grin. "You know...I tried many times to tell you I loved you. But couldn't ever bring myself to confessing."

Rick gave a pained chuckled as he managed to move his damaged body to Lisa's side, draping his arm over her shoulder. "You know...I never thought I'd ever thank Khyron for anything."

When the ground forces burst into the warehouse a few minutes later, they were greeted by the sight of a dead, Miconized Khyron. But the strangest sight they saw was Lisa and Rick holding each other and locked in a heated kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: One shot I wrote in about two hours after I got off work. Pretty good one in my opinion. This one is purely and truly a one shot at it's core. No stroy idea, no continuation. Simply a one shot. Read and review!**

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Losses in Battle

"Skipper! What do we do?"

Rick Hunter gripped his rifle tightly as he and his team stacked up behind the biggest piece of cover they could find. Beside him, Max was glaceing toward the small wall in mild fear as the sound of rounds impacting the wall reached their ears. Admiral Rick Hunter looked to his long time friend, fear in his eyes. "I don't know Max! They're a hell of a lot better shots than I thought!"

"We have to keep pushing!" Vince urged, popping up long enough o fire off a few rounds into the approached enemy forces, successfully scattering their assault for the moment. "We can't sit here for much longer or we're done for!"

"Baker!" Rick called into his communicator. "Baker you there?"

"Little busy sir! Two of them jumped me and argh!"

Rick bowed his head in silence as the line went dead. Max gulped and gripped the weapon in his hands tightly. There was one particular enemy that seemed hell bent on his demise. "We need to run! It's four hundred yards to the objective."

"With Baker and his team down, our right flank it wide open to attack."

Rick nodded and steeled himself, a grim expression crossing his face. "Not all of us will make it."

"Only one of us has to! If it means taking a round for that chance, I'll happily comply." Vince growled, annoyed and fearful at how quickly things had gone down hill.

"Alright. We break from cover and haul ass to the objective. Shoot anything in front of you and for the love of all that is holy, don't fall behind." Rick shivered. "We all saw what happened to Louie. Poor bastard."

"He should have even come with us. He's not a soldier." Max commented with some sadness. "He tried though, I'll give him that."

"We need to move now. They out number us ten to three now that Baker is toast."

"I warned that idiot not to pull something reckless." Rick commented, readying himself to run. "You two ready?"

Seeing their nods, Rick took a deep breath before barking his orders. "NOW!"

The three men sprang from cover, weapons baring in muffled thumps, surprising the four contacts that had been advancing on them. Vince let out a snarl and caught on iin the chest, the target falling with a anguished scream. He didn't even pause and continued firing at the tree line were three more were coming from. They scattered quickly. Max stooped low, firing what shots he coud at the group, and got one of the tree line contacts. The three hurried, moving as quick as they could, Rick breathing heavily as they made the tree line and ducked behind cover. "Damn. If I wanted to run this much, I'd have joined the Marines!"

"We need to move Admiral." Vince pointed up the hill before them with his barrel. "Objective is just over top this hill."

"Alright. Colonel, you take point. Let's move!"

The three moved as quickly as they could, rounds peppering the trees around them as their pursuers followed not far behind. Half way up the hill, it happened. Max was blindsided from a particularly attached enemy that had been stalking him specifically. "Max!"

"Go! Get out of here before they catch you!" Max cried as he grappled with his opponent.

Rick hesitated for a moment before the military side of him kicked in and took off with Vince trailing behind him. Rick was cursing, hating he had left his friend behind but knew this was too important for them. They had to reach the objective. If they didn't...he didn't even want to think of the consequences. He closed his eyes briefly in sorrow as he heard the pained cry of his best friend.

"We will avenge him Vince. I swear we will!" Rick swore.

"Worry more for yourselves!"

"Admiral!"

Rick tripped and stumbled forward as he heard the muffled burst from his right. Stopping, he glanced to Vince and saw to his horror, the man had been hit half a dozen times in the chest. The large man dropped to his knees, his rifle falling from his grip as he put a hand over the impact points. He looked to Rick, confused before the hostile that had shot him jumped on him, Vince was screaming in defeat as they tumbled a short distance down the hill. Rick spun on his heel and fired a dozen shots back at his pursuers, hitting two and forcing the others to dodge behind cover. Seeing his lucky break, he sprint the last bit of the hill, collapsing near the top. Victory was so close! Once he made it, he would avange his fallen comrade. There was no sweeter feeling.

"So you finally made it old man."

His blood ran cold as he looked up from his prone position on the ground, fear in his eyes as the enemy commander stepped towards him, rifle in hand, the steps confident and smooth. Rick scrambled to get up right and grab his rifle before a booted foot kicked it from him, leaving him sitting on his calves with his hands in the air. "Please...please don't shoot me."

"Oh? Why wouldn't I? This is war after all."

Rick swallowed hard as the barrel pointed right at his chest, feelings of defeat welling up in him. "I can't believe you of all people would get me. Traitor."

"Who else would it be Admiral Hunter?" The voice countered smugly. "Who else knows you as well as I? Who else can make you beg like I can?"

Rick glared and rose his chin in defiance. "Than get it over with. You've waited a long time for this."

The enemy commander chuckled and placed their finger on the trigger.

"Guilty as charged."

The muffled thumps from the weapon firing filled the clearing.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I can't believe you tackled me Miriya!" Max complained, wincing at the soreness from where his back landed on the ground.

The women were laughing as they walked the halls from the rec deck on the SDF-3, them being the victors from the little paint ball match. The men had depressed looks on their face but none was more depressed that Rick who had a slight limp as he walked. "At least you didn't get shot in the groin Max! That hurt by the way Lisa!"

Said woman giggled as she gently squeezed his hand.

"You're the idiot that tried to stand as I shot. I was aiming for your chest."

"At least you didn't get shot in the face!" Louie muttered, wondering just what he had been thinking. Jancie was watching him with some concern as the bright red welt in the center of his forehead showed where he had gotten hit.

"I think the girls are more put out." Jean remarked, looking behind them at the four teenagers that had joined in. You could easily tell which belonged to Max and Miriya. Maia's pink hair stood out pretty easily.

"Are you kidding? They almost had us at the end!" Rick motioned wildly with his arms. "Had us pinned down and everything! If Vince hadn't gotten Maia, we'd have been wiped out there."

"I still want to know why you pounced on me Jean." Vince grumbled, not really minding, but was known as a sore loser.

His wife gave him a bright smile. "It looked like fun when Miriya did it."

"It was. Max is always such a fun prey." The Former Zentradi Ace smirked at her husband who stuck his tongue out her.

"Well at least the others didn't beg not to be shot like a certain Admiral I know." Lisa remarked with a smirk. "Had him on his knees pleading with me not to shoot him."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Rick whined as they reached the lift to take them home. "It hurts getting shot. And I still say you shot me in the groin on purpose!"

"Well, maybe." She grinned. "You did shoot me in the ass in the first match."

"I couldn't help it! It was right there in front of me." Rick gave a perverted smirk. "It was either that or have my way with you out there. That outfit makes you look like a warrior woman and it is very sexy!"

The others laughed as Lisa's face flushed red, the teenagers tuning out what the adults were talking about as they went their own way after the elevator stopped. They each parted ways and Rick looped his arm with Lisa's and they made their way back home. The walk took maybe ten minutes before they found themselves in the rather spacious living room.

"You are such a pervert Admiral Hunter." She teased, panting her hands on her hips.

He wagged his eyebrows with a grin before pulling Lisa to him and kissing her deeply. He smirked, his cocky look setting a fire in Lisa.

"Only towards you, Admiral Hunter." He commented.

Lisa gave him a loving smile and planted a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back, her face becoming mischievous before she spoke. "You still lost so you still have to pay up."

Rick shuddered in horror and stared open mouth at Lisa as she fought hard not to laugh at his expression. "Y-you mean...?"

"Yup." She chirped. "All day shopping trip with no bag limit."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Was reading queenybee's It Happened One Rainy Night when I got the idea for this one. I'm actually tempted to make it a two shot or even a small short story as it has potential. Even though I wasn't a fan of how the beginning went, the ending was worth it. It got me wanting to do my own stab at it and I really liked how this came out. Believe it or not, but this took me about eight hours to hammer out. Anyway, please drop a review!**

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Well, that's a surprise!

Lisa Hayes sat in the exam room, her expression anxious and her thoughts worried. It had been almost eight hours since she had her blood drawn for a test. They'd offered to call her back stating it could take up to two days before the results came in. She'd elected to remain where she was as this way, she'd know with out delay if the results came early. Oh, she knew very well what the results would say but at least it would be officially confirmed by a doctor rather than a stick she peed on. Breaking her from her nervousness, the door opened and in stepped her Doctor and friend, Jean Grant. The woman gave Lisa a small smile as she approached the worried woman.

"Well, you're instincts was right. Congratulations." Jean informed her, still smiling. "We need to schedule you for an ultrasound soon. I'm sure the father is going to be very excited.

Lisa gave an unintentional wince at Jean's statement and the Doctor began to frown. "You do know who the father is, right? If not, we can run a paternity test for you."

"No. That won't be necessary. I know who the father is." Lisa said with an embarrassed tone.

"Lisa...does he even know you suspected?"

The woman chewed her lip and shook her head. "No. This was...well...I don't think he even remembers what happened."

"Oh." Jean blinked before she began hesitantly speaking. "If you don't want to continue the pregnancy, we do have other options available to you. Or you can put the baby up for adoption."

Lisa shook her head at the doctor's words. "No. It is very much wanted, even if it is a surprise. I've always wanted to have children."

"Lisa, are you going to tell him?"

She gave Jean an uneasy look. "He does deserve to know. I just don't know what he will do."

"Who is it Lisa?" Jean pressed on. "Who is the father?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Rick Hunter! You cheating little worm!" Roy bellowed from his position on the ground. "I call foul!"

Rick laughed as Roy got back to his feet, his back side coated in dirt from where he landed in the grass besides the basketball court. "I didn't foul you. You tripped over your own feet old man!"

"Old man!" Roy cried in outrage. "I ought to knock you senseless for that!"

Rick bounced the ball in his hand as Roy took his place across from him. Beside him, Jack Archer and Vince Grant readied themselves to continue this little three on three game they'd started after their shifts had ended. Rick glanced to his left and saw the small nod from a grinning Ben while Max smirked at Jack. "You're still down by six Roy. You three feel like tossing in the towel and saving yourself the embarrassment?"

"Just play the game sir." Vince growled. "We can still come back."

"I don't see how Vince. After all, we have the younger team." Ben taunted with a smirk.

"But not a lot of brains Chuckles." Jack shot back as Rick began to move. Max darted between Roy and Vince, the larger man cursing as he tried to turn and fell over. Rick spun around Roy's large and lanky frame and faked a pass to Max before launching the ball to Ben. With the grace of a professional player, Ben shot the ball and the eyes of the players watched as it hit the backboard before falling through the hoop. The younger men cheered as the older players simply glared at them.

"That's game point! You lose!" Ben cackled much to the dismay of the other team. "The old men lost!"

"Yeah well, at least we're better looking!" Jack grumbled.

"You're wives are supposed to say you look good." Rick snarked back as Max gave a short glare at him. "Sorry Max."

"At least I have a wife Hunter!" Roy called from across the court, they teams heading towards the bleachers. "You don't even have a girlfriend!"

Max and Ben both winced as the truth of Roy's statement caused Rick to growl in annoyance. It was a bit of a sore spot for him as he'd been dealing with Minmei's rejection over two months ago and hadn't even shown an interest in any other woman since then. Roy, seeing his brother's face gave a sheepish look. "Sorry Rick. That was too far."

"It's fine." Rick replied with a bit of heat to his voice. "Anyway. We won. You guys have to cover the morning rotations for the next six weeks."

"A deal is a deal I guess." Roy sighed. He gave a look to Ben and Max that they understood and made themselves scarce as Rick grabbed his own gym bag and readied himself to head him. Roy placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a knowing look.

"Let's take a walk Little Brother."

Rick glared before he nodded and fell into step beside Roy as they made their way towards the barracks. The sky was darkening as evening began to set in in New Macross City and the view over the sprawling town was impressive. Even the SDF-1, sitting silent in Lake Gloval looked as majestic as ever. Rick hoped Roy wouldn't bring up the Minmei situation as while it did still sting to think about, he had found that it had been surprisingly easy to get over the woman. The sting was more from his ego than anything if he was honest.

"You doing okay Rick?" Roy asked. "I know how hard it can be to deal with rejection. Despite what you may have seen, I've been shot down a fair few times myself. Some were spectacular crash and burns."

"I'm already over it Roy." Rick saw the disbelieving look on Roy's face. "Seriously Roy. Just my ego that's bruised. I mean, she didn't have to be so vocal about it in the newspaper."

Roy winced, remembering that article. While no names had been mentioned, it was painfully obvious who the 'poor man' she had 'graciously turned down' had been. Roy had been there and at no point would he have called her rant gracious. Down right rude and belittling was more like it. He'd heard her jab about Rick's questionable maturity since he still enjoyed to play with models. And that gave him a sour opinion of her as Roy liked to do the same. Claudia said it was adorable for him and he wouldn't think otherwise!

"I heard from Lisa you were pretty out of it when she stopped by." Roy commented.

"I don't even want to remember that night Roy." Rick admitted. "I was hurt and angry that Minmei had said all that in an article just to get her name in the headlines."

"Yeah, she called and told the me next day. Said you were completely trashed."

"Wouldn't you have done the same?"

"Probably. So if it's just your ego that's hurt, why haven't you shown any interest in another woman?" Roy asked, curiously. "There are plenty out there who are interested in you. Heard you even had a date with Sue Graham last week. You going to see her again?"

Rick shook his head. "No. She's great and all...it's just nothing seemed to click you know?"

"You should give it another chance Rick." Roy advised him as they approached the Officer housing. "You might end up liking her."

"I doubt it Roy. Like I said, she'd a great girl, but it doesn't feel right." Rick rubbed the back of his neck. "She's just not my type."

"Dark hair, flawless skin, great body and long legs? What's not your type about her?" Roy joked.

"I don't know Roy. That's what's got me all messed up." Rick confessed. "She's close though. But still...it's not close enough."

"Rick, throw me a bone here. For crying out loud, she's pretty close to what you spent three years chasing after!"

"That's the problem Roy." Rick griped. "Look, I know you mean well Big Brother. And I appreciate it. It's just...I'm just not interested in seeing anyone for the time being. And trust me Roy, when I see my type, I'll show my interest and go from there. Right now, all I want is to get a shower and get some sleep before the meeting tomorrow with the new pilots."

Roy bade his brother good night and watched him walk off, metaphorical storm clouds hanging over his head and sighed. "Well, guess I'll have to wait and see how this plays out."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Claudia watched her friend alternate between suddenly joyful to down right depressed as they sat in the meeting with Admiral Gloval the next morning. She could already see Lisa hadn't gotten much sleep last night and if her red puffy eyes this morning were any indication, she had been crying earlier too. It fully concerned Claudia as she hoped her little pig headed brother hadn't hurt her again. She almost missed the Admiral asking Lisa what was wrong. Henry had caught the flashes himself and decided to find out what was a miss with the young woman he viewed as a daughter.

"Captain Hayes. Are you unwell?"

Lisa blinked in surprise before looking around the room. She spotted Claudia looking at her with concern and turned to see the Admiral looking to her as well. "I'm fine sir. Just...well I received some news yesterday."

"Jean told me you stopped by the hospital yesterday." Claudia moved to sit beside her friend. "Is everything okay sweetie?"

"It is not an issue from Alaska Base is it?" Henry asked, concerned as he pulled his pipe from his pocket and set about packing it.

"No. Nothing like that, though I'd ask you not to smoke around me sir. It can be..." A small smile slowly appeared on her face. "It is ill advised for an expecting mother to be near tobacco smoke."

The room was silent for half a heartbeat as Henry froze with his lit match inches from his pipe while Claudia's jaw dropped to some where near her ankles. Both sets of eyes locked onto Lisa as she ducked her head, smiling with bright red cheeks. Claudia gave a happy cry and pulled her friend into a tight hug while Henry lowered his hand, a warm smile on his face as he extinguished his match. "Well, that is the best news I have heard in some time! Congratulations Lisa. You will be an excellent mother to your child."

Lisa basked in the praise from the Admiral and had to wipe away the happy tears that fell down her cheeks. Claudia was smiling brightly at her before a frown appeared on her dark features.

"Lisa. Who is the father?" She asked cautiously. Last she had heard, Lisa was still head over heels for Rick, even if the dense fool didn't notice it. Claudia was sure it would happen eventually and while Lisa having a baby would possibly make him hesitant if he ever clued in, she couldn't see him running with how much he cared for her. It seemed everyone else could see how much they loved each other except for the two of them. She saw Lisa's smile fall and Claudia rested her hand on her forearm as Admiral Gloval's look became thunderous, both thinking that maybe someone had taken advantage of Lisa.

"Who is it Captain Hayes?" Henry asked, planning to deal with whoever was foolish enough to have his way with her and leave. Perhaps a Military 'Accident' would happen over his home.

"I...I'm not saying just yet. Not until I can tell him." Lisa was adamant as she spoke, not meeting their eyes. "I don't know how he will react, but no matter what, I am keeping the baby."

"Roy and I will help you however we can Lisa." Claudia pledged to her friend. "I wonder if Rick is planning a murder?"

Lisa winced and Claudia caught on to what she wasn't saying. "Rick doesn't know someone took advantage of you? Well, maybe that was a smart move. Knowing the little hothead, he'd start interrogating everyone with a penis to find out who it was."

"I think all of Vermilion would join in as well. They all think very highly of you Lisa." Gloval commented, his expression still harsh. "I must admit, Captain Hunter seems to be very attached to you. Perhaps it would be best not to tell him just yet."

Lisa gave a nod of her head, but knew that Rick had to know. If she didn't tell him, there was no telling how he would react.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Where is Rick?"

Roy looked to Claudia and thumbed over his shoulder. "Playing chess against Miriya. I think she's winning."

Clauida turned her gaze and spotted Rick glaring at the board as Miriya gave a smug smile. "That can't be a legal move!"

Shaking her head, she walked to the fuming Pilot, Roy following in curiosity. He wondered just what kind of screw up his brother had done now. Maybe Sue started a rumor or something. No, she seemed to amicable with Rick and even told Roy she was okay with Rick not wanting to go out again. She had even said he seemed to some where else the whole time. Max was smirking as Rick lowered his head in defeat.

"Pay up Skipper. You did bet ten bucks you could beat her."

"How was I supposed to know you taught her so well?" Rick grumbled, pulling his wallet out and passing a crisp bill to the green haired ace. "I swear, you both planned this!"

"Rick. Can I talk to you real quick?"

Said named pilot turned in his chair and spotted Claudia's worried look. That put him on edge and he nodded, rising from his seat. Max and Miriya watched the three leave with a worried stare.

"Do you think he is in trouble Max?"

The blue haired man shook his head. "No. If he was, Roy would have chewed him out right here. Whatever it is, it's probably personal. You up to play me?"

"Stakes?"

Max grinned, his eyes gleaming. "I can think of a few things to wager."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"And she didn't say who it was?" Rick asked, his voice empty of emotion. Roy knew the tone well as it meant he was close to a blow up. Claudia shook her head.

"Who ever it is, she knows them. Said she wouldn't say anything until he knew."

Rick gave a low growl as he glared at the wall, his emotions all over the board. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to drop a 5,000 pound JDAM right through his damn living room window so I can watch his face when the bomb explodes."

Roy was surprised by the harsh tone in his little brother's voice.

"Rick, are you mad because someone had a one night stand with Lisa?" He questioned, his face calm. "Or are you mad at her because she put herself in this position?"

"Both!" He snarled, surprising both of them. "She's smarter than anyone I know! How could she let this happen?"

"Rick, Lisa has been dealing with a constant heartbreak for two years now." Claudia spoke, praying Lisa would forgive her for breaking her promise not to tell Rick how the woman felt about him. "She's actually been in love with you since before we made it back to Earth from Pluto."

The anger Rick was feeling seemed to be blown away by his surprise, his mind froze in it's tracks. "What do you mean? Why didn't she say anything? Why haven't you said anything before now?!"

"You were chasing after Minmei at the time Little Bro." Roy tired to placate him. "To be honest, I thought it was a minor crush she had. This is news to me."

"Roy's right Rick." Claudia spoke with an edge to her voice. "She felt she didn't have a chance against Minmei to win your heart or attention. So she kept quiet. I didn't say anything until now as even I wasn't sure where your loyalties lied with her."

"I've always been loyal to Lisa! She's one of my best friends." Rick countered. "If she'd have told me I'd...I'd..."

"You'd have what?" Claudia challenged. "Are you going to tell me that you'd have dropped everything to do with Minmei on the spot and go after Lisa? Don't lie Rick Hunter. You had your head jammed well up your back end at that time. And you were not ready for any kind of mature relationship. You'd have only ended up hurting each other."

"Or they could have ended up together all this time Claudia." Roy countered, his mind going over the details as he gave a smile. "They do have a lot in common including a stubborn streak the size of Texas!"

"I'm going to call her." Rick declared until Roy grabbed his arm.

"I wouldn't just yet Rick." He cautioned. "First off, you're a mess right now. You're angry, confused, and you've had a lot thrown at you. Second, Lisa herself is probably no better off. Let her come to you and tell you Rick. Don't corner her or force her to talk to you. It could hurt her and the baby."

Hearing those words, Rick deflated into himself. He didn't want to hurt her and sure as hell didn't want to hurt her baby. While he was upset about it, he really didn't have any other options. "What should I do then?"

"Just be there for her Rick. Maybe take her out or something now that you know how she feels."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa sat on her couch, knees to her stomach as she watched the sappiest romance movie she owned. Seeing such a heart warming story of a man's devotion to his wife, even though she had no memory of him was such a moving concept. She was crying as the movie ended showing the elderly couple in each others arms, having passed away in their sleep. She wiped her eyes as her cell phone rang, not even looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

 _"Hey Lisa, it's Rick."_

She blinked in surprise as Rick never called her phone. And she really wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him yet about what she had found out. "Hey."

 _"I know it's kinda late and all but I wanted to ask you something. It can't wait until the morning."_

"Okay Rick. What do you want to ask?"

 _"You doing anything say...Wednesday?"_

She glanced at her calendar and say she had that day empty. "Nothing planned yet. Why?"

 _"I was wondering if you'd like to met up? It's been a while since we sat down and hung out."_

Lisa was surprised, pleasantly, but still surprised. And it had been a while since the two had sat down and just talked instead of bickered. Maybe...maybe she could tell him then? She was just fearful of what he might do when he found out. The thoughts of him storming out in anger came to mind.

"I don't know if it's a good idea Rick." She cursed herself for her cowardice. "Maybe another time?"

It broke her heart hearing his depressed tone, but she wasn't ready to face him yet. _"Oh...yeah sure. Well, sorry for bothering you then. I'll see you tomorrow."_

Lisa buried her face in her hands and cried, letting the phone drop from her hands to the couch.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick was irritable. Well, he had been since Lisa had gone out of her way to avoid him since his phone call three weeks ago. So it wasn't new to the crew to see his angry face as he stomped towards the newest members of Skull, deck crews scattering out of his way as a pissed Rick was a dangerous one.

"Just what the hell was that?!" He bellowed at the new pilots who gulped before coming to attention. "Just what is so hard about following my directions? Can none of you hear? Was I unclear? ANSWER ME!"

"Sir...I...uh..." Baker swallowed hard as he tried to shrink away from the glare leveled at him.

"You too stupid to talk now?" Rick demanded, getting right in front of the poor kid.

"HUNTER!" A voice called out. "My office! Now!"

Rick turned and stormed off towards Roy's office, Max watching him with a concerned gaze. "I wonder what has gotten into Rick."

"I hope it is nothing serious." Miriya commented. "He has been getting worse since he was pulled aside by Commodore Fokker and Captain Grant."

"Whatever was said sure rattled him. Come on, let's get these rookies calmed down. Rick has been pretty hard on them."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Just what is your problem Rick?" Roy demanded, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You've been snapping at everyone and short tempered since Claudia told you about Lisa."

Rick kept quiet, his glare never leaving his face. Rick gave an agitated sigh before he turned to Rick, his demeanor shifting to the Commodore he was and not Rick's older Brother.

"Captain Hunter, you leave me no choice." He began, his tone making it quite clear he wasn't kidding. "You stand relieved until such time you fix your attitude. I don't want to see your face on my flight deck until you solve what ever problem has you screaming at anyone who looks at you funny. Are we clear?"

Rick grit his teeth as he seethed on the inside and ground out his response. "Crystal. Sir."

Roy gave Rick a small glare before his face softened.

"Seriously Rick. Whatever is bothering you is really affecting your abilities. You almost crashed yesterday on take off. I know this is about Lisa. I don't know just what has happened to set you off, but go find her and talk to her."

"Is that an order?"

"A request from your brother. Now scram. And don't think I was joking about what I said."

Rick turned and exited Roy's office, slamming the door behind him. As he passed the others, he thought about what Roy had said. Maybe he was right. He was just passing a group of mechs that were chatting when he froze from what he heard. "Did you hear? Someone knocked up Captain Hayes."

"You mean Hottie Hayes? The one slatted for command of the SDF-2?"

"Same one!" The one closest to Rick chuckled. "Man...who ever he is, he's one lucky bastard. I'd love to get a piece of that!"

Rick finally snapped. He stormed over to the Mech and spun him around. The poor man saw Rick's enraged face as he looked the man in the eyes. "If I ever, ever, hear you talk about Captain Hayes like that again, I will personally shove you into an intake. None of you will ever talk about her like that and if I hear any other similar comment from you or your buddies, none of you will like me after I finish tearing you apart. We clear?"

"Y-yes sir!"

"Good. You make sure to pass the word."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa nervously wait outside Rick's quarters, still debating whether to finally talk to him or not. She'd heard about Roy relieving Rick of his duties and word was, it was because of her. She knew that avoiding him had been a bad idea at the time, but what was she to do? She admitted she had allowed this to go on for too long, but she was scared at how he would react. She wouldn't be able to bare his rejection should he react negatively to what she had to say. Why wouldn't he? If she confessed now that it was common knowledge she was pregnant, he could very well tell her to get lost. Logically, she knew he wouldn't do that. But what about the baby? When he found out just who the father was and that she had kept it secret from not just him but her closest friends, he'd be crushed she hadn't trusted him enough to even tell him.

"Well, this is a surprise Captain."

Lisa gave a shocked squeak and spun around to the source of the voice. Rick Hunter stood behind her, his arms crossed and his face settled into a neutral look. "Rick."

"Something I can help you with Ma'am?"

Lisa winced at the formal tone, her heart starting to break. But she brought it upon herself and the only way to fix it was to finally talk to him.

"I was hoping to speak to you Rick." She wrung her hands as she looked away from his blank expression. "In private."

"Sure Captain."

He moved forward and opened his barracks door, allowing her to follow him in before shutting. "Please forgive the mess. It'll be ready for an inspection by tomorrow morning."

She frowned at his stiff tone as he made his way to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He paused and glanced to her. "Would you like a water?"

"Yes please."

He grabbed a second bottle and handed it to her before he opened his own and took a swig. "So what do you want to talk about Ma'am? Am I in further trouble than I already am?"

She took a deep breath before she spoke. "Rick, can we sit down? I promise I'll explain everything."

He saw her slight wince and cursed himself. "Of course. Sorry."

She smiled as he helped her to the couch, gentle in everyway. Normally, she'd have probably swatted him away saying she was pregnant, not fragile, but seeing how upset he was with her...she could only hope this would show him he wasn't the reason she had been so distant.

"So...congratulations are in order. You'll make a great Mom Lisa."

She smiled warmly at him, her heart jumping for joy as he dropped his use of her rank. Seems that her little gesture had worked. "Thank you Rick. It's taking some getting used to."

He nodded his understanding as her smile faltered.

"Rick...about the last three weeks...you aren't why I've been so distant."

"Could have fooled me Lisa." Rick muttered.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just..." She sighed and clasped her hands around the cold water bottle. "With the surprise of finding out I'm pregnant to who the father is...well...I've been worried about how he'll react."

"Give me a name." Rick growled, his eyes flashing. "I'll make sure he understands it's better for his health to step up as a man."

Lisa gave him an amused look. "Rick, I highly doubt he even remembers that night or what we did."

"I don't see how." Rick spoke, glancing out the window. "You're a stunning woman Lisa. Smart and funny. Hell, if it was me, I highly doubt I'd have forgotten."

She ducked her head to hide her flushed cheeks.

"I also don't know how he feels about me anyway."

"He'd be a damned fool if he didn't care for you."

She looked up and saw his honest eyes on her. Did he just...? Was he really saying what she thought he was saying? "Do you...care about me Rick? I don't mean as a friend."

"Yeah...I do." He sighed and gave a small grin. "Claudia kinda ratted you out. Told me how you felt about me. I was peeved at first until she correctly pointed out that I was too wrapped up in a crush to even notice. When I called you that night, I was still trying to figure out where my own feelings were. When you turned me down, I got my answer."

"How so?" Lisa asked before she gasped. "Claudia told you?! Oh that woman!"

Rick laughed as Lisa scowled and deiced to answer her question. "Because it still hurts that you shot me down. Minmei's lasted a whole two days. Yours hurt deeper."

Feeling her confidence being bolstered, her eyes met his as she asked her next question.

"Would you help me with the baby? Be a father for it?"

Rick blinked in surprise from the sudden question before his own cheeks flushed red.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said no. I kinda thought about a future with you when Claudia told me. Especially when I found out you were pregnant." He admitted shyly. "I uh...well I may have wished I was the one who...uh...well..."

"You did?" She was awestruck at his answer. "You're not just saying that are you?"

"I'm being honest." He spoke softly. "And if the jackass that got you pregnant refuses to be a father for your baby, I'd be honored if you'd let me step up instead."

He shook his head before dropping his gaze to the floor. Lisa watched him for a moment before a brilliant smile flared on her face. "Rick, would you like to know who the father is?"

"Can I kick his ass?" Rick asked like a little kid wanting a puppy. "Please? I'll try not to kill him."

"If you kill him it would be considered a suicide Rick." Lisa joked as Rick blinked in confusion.

"Well, I guess I could make it look like one if he gets stupid about all of this." Rick muttered, rubbing his chin. "And I can't ask Max to help me hide the body."

Lisa just laughed, confusing Rick even more. Why would she be laughing? Shouldn't she be trying to talk him down from murdering the prick? It took her a minute to get her laughter under control before she rolled her eyes at him. "You're silly Rick. And you can't hurt him or kill him if you want to help me raise the baby."

"Why not?" He whined.

"Because the baby, Rick," She paused and gave him a coy smile. "The baby is ours. Yours and mine. You are the biological father."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I really have no idea where this one came from. Just one of those random off the wall ideas that it just crazy enough to work. Anyway, those of you awaiting the next update for Mars Alight, sorry guys. The next chapter is being completely reworked from the ground up and I need to alter my outline again. The chapter was waaaayyyyy too dark and angsty and I know for a fact I'd have had an angry mob beating down my front door! Also, I work from 1-11 for the next few days so I won't have time to work the rewrite until Thursday. Which means the update won't be until Friday. Sorry! But the oneshots should be updated every day to two days so that should get you your fix. So on with the oneshot! Please drop a review guys! It only takes a few seconds!**

* * *

Chatnight

Lisa drummed her fingers on her desk, staring at the screen before in in irritation. At Claudia's behest, she had went along with this new trend sweeping the ship. Chatrooms. Oh sure, she remembered those ones in the early nineties, how every one who was anyone had an Instant Messenger. But this was was slightly different. Using answers given, it auto assigned you to a group to speak with or you could choice to talk to a specific person in a private chat room. It limited everything to text only so no pictures were attached to the account names, meaning you had no idea who you were talking to. Unless it was Roy. !SkuLlCommAnder69! was pretty obvious. Still, she had hope that maybe she could talk to some one other than Claudia for once. While the Trio were great friends, they tended to be horrible at keeping secrets. So, here she sat waiting to see if someone would pop into the room she had been grouped to, her irritation mounted. She closed her eues with a sigh and was contemplating just logging off when she heard a small ding. She looked to her screen with a furrowed brow as the text popped on screen.

SkyGuy82 Has joined the room!'

Lisa blinked in surprise as she eyed the screen before she typed. "Hello."

The response was fairly quick and she had to wince at her own pen name, but it was the first thing that popped into her mind that she knew wouldn't give her away. Unless it was Claudia. She'd be the only person to catch it.

"Hi blueeyeslover12. How are you?"

"Not doing to bad. Thanks for asking. You?"

"Good. So...why'd you join this chat thing?"

"A friend said it would be a good way for me to make some more friends." Lisa typed, frowning as she wrote. "I really don't have many."

"Same here. I have a pretty small circle myself."

"I can relate to that. I can count my friends on one hand. So you're friends put you up to this too?"

"Yeah. Bunch of clowns think I need some help. Problem is, between my professional life and my personal...I'm stressed pretty bad."

Lisa paused, feeling empathy for SkyGuy as she too felt her life spiraling out of control. "Well, can't say the same for my career, but my love life leaves something to be desired."

The screen was blank for a moment before words scrolled across. "Oh? Wanna talk about it? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Lisa bit her lower lip. Should she? She considered not saying but finally shrugged. It's not like Rick would find out anyway.

"I have something of a crush on a friend of mine. Well, sometimes he can piss me off and others I just want to kiss him for how sweet he can be."

"Sounds confusing. I'm guessing you're a woman based on how that was phrased. Does he know you care about him?"

She flushed as she frowned before rapidly typing her response. "I think so. I've tried to make it clear to him. But...wel it doesn't seem to be working. My best friend says I need to just grab him and kiss him senseless. And yeah, I'm a woman."

"So you've tried a subtle approach. Hate to say it blueeyes, but we men are pretty clueless at times. You said he irritates you at times. How?"

"Just things he says or when he completely misses the signs I'm sending to him. I'm pretty frustrated." She blushed, wishing she hadn't sent that, but it was too late and SkyGuy replied quickly.

"RFLMAO! Well that does explain why you would be upset with him! The nice approach may work, show him you care ya know? If you've been snapping at him, it could push him away."

Lisa blinked in surprise. She hadn't really kept a tight gip on her temper with Rick, but SkyGuy had a point. One Claudia had skimmed over herslef but Lisa had dismissed it. With two people saying it, maybe she could give it a try. "Huh...you may have a good point SkyGuy. You think it will work?"

"It couldn't hurt to try. After all, what do you have to lose?"

She sighed and conceded his point. "At this point, my pride."

"What would you rather have? This guy you like or an intact pride?"

"Why can't I have both?"

The reply came back a moment later. "Because that would require Life to play fair. Look, I can't really tell you what to do as I've had bad luck with woman myself, but sometimes, you have to just let go and hand the controls to someone else. The biggest thing you have working against you is your pride. I'm pretty arrogant myself and it's bit me in the ass on more than one occasion. Give being nice a try. You never know how it might play out. Look, I'm enjoying this conversation, but sadly I have to head out soon. I'll log in same time tomorrow. Let me know how it goes okay?"

"You promise?"

"Promise! You seem pretty cool and you're fun to talk to."

"Alright. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"TTFN."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Hey, blueeyeslover12! Any luck with your fellow?"

Lisa sighed, and smiled slightly. SkyGuy's advice had been followed and Rick seemed much less rough to deal with today than normal. "Your advice helped. He seemed to be surprised, but we'll see how it goes. So since you helped me, it's my turn to help you. After all, that's what friends do right?"

"Lol, yeah. You have a point. TBH, I'm kinda torn between two woman right now. On one hand, I've had feelings for a girl I've known for some time now. She's pretty great but doesn't seem interested at all. I'm pretty sure she already has a boyfriend but it really doesn't bug me as much as I thought it would."

"And the other?"

"She's my boss! And she can be such a hardass at times, it drives me nuts!"

"Hardass huh? Sounds like a strong, intelligent woman to me."

"Well, yeah, she is. But I think sometimes she has a stick jammed so far up her ass, I just want to give it one big ol'yank and smack her upside the head with it! Don't get me wrong. She's a great woman. Smart and hot! And we do get along pretty well at times. But she's too hard on us guys. We go and do our jobs the best we can, but it doesn't seem to be enough for her. If she'd lighten up, maybe I could see myself with her."

Lisa nodded absentmindedly as she could be accused of similar.

"Have you ever thought maybe she might have a reason to be so hard on you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm hard on my team because it's the only way to motivate them to do their best. Sure, I could be easier on them, but it wouldn't help them. I do try to show them I appreciate their hard work. Maybe you're judging her too harshly. It could be a defense of hers."

The screen remained blank for several minutes before the reply appeared and Lisa read it eagerly. "You might have a good point there blueeyes. I've seen her at times looking so lost and vulnerable. And I do like her as I said, it's just...I wise she'd just relax."

"Do you cause her to get upset?"

"Umm...yeah, I guess I do. It's not on purpose but it does happen."

"You know, there is one guy on my team here that annoys me so much I want to strangle him. He can be an arrogant little bug at times. He's good at what he does but he has a very bad habit of popping off at the wrong time. If he'd just think about what he's about to say, he could avoid many calls into my office."

"Yikes. That guy sounds like me! That's pretty much my problem in a nutshell, but like you, it's also because of certain frustrations between me and her."

Lisa flushed as she read SkyGuy's reply and shook her head with a smile.

"Try to be more considerate to her SkyGuy. If you do like her and think you have chance, you need to be patient and show her you care. Woman are rather complex and confusing to you men, so we can understand some of your more annoying tendencies. And so what if she is your boss? If you like her, go after her tiger!"

"Lol, you're using my words against me! But you're right. Only fair to follow my own advice right?"

"Right."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Hi SkyGuy! Did you take your own advice?"

The replied shot back quickly.

"Sorta. Didn't talk to her a lot today and thought my words through before I spoke. But like I warned you, it's going to take time before she cools her attitude towards me. Tempted to ask her out just to see what she does but I really have no clue what you do on a date. Never really been on one."

"Never?! How? You have great advice!"

"Well, as I said, I've had very bad luck. And listening to your words about why she may be acting like she does, well...it's kinda helped me to understand her better. I'm thinking I may ask her out tomorrow after work ya know. Show her I want to get to know her better and I do like her."

"What about the other girl? The one you talked about yesterday?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Lisa giggled as she covered her mouth at the response. She grinned as she typed her own reply, really enjoying the talks she'd had with SkyGuy. He really seemed like a good man with a level head if not a bit of a cocky guy. "I'm all ears. Or eyes in this case lol!"

"LMAO! Alright...truth is, I know that it was just a crush with the other one. She's cute, but she doesn't have the same effect on me as my boss, which is weird cause half the time I'm not sure if she'd PMSing or not! But fact is, I'm falling hard for my boss and it's got me scared."

"I can understand that. And is it love you feel or just lust?"

"That's a great question and I have an answer! It's not lust, I can say that with complete honesty! Fact is, I miss her when she's not at work, like something is missing. And when she laughs...well I'm pretty sure I forget how to human lol! I either can't think or my heart decides to skip a beat or six! And let's not even talk about her looks! She never really wears any make up, but in my opinion, she sure as hell never needs it! Natural beauty is the best! And that's where the other girl fails. She always feels like she needs to get gussied up. Where as my boss is the kinda woman who'd jump in elbow deep on a rebuild of a 350 Big Block and not care about getting greese on her hands. A real down to Earth woman. Normally, I'd just ignore my feelings but after our little chat yesterday, well, it's changed how I view her."

"Oooohhh you got it bad SkyGuy! I wish the guy I was falling for felt the same about me as you do your boss!"

"Hey, I have a great idea!"

"What's that?"

Her heart dropped at his idea. "Why don't we talk to our crushes tomorrow? Ask them out? I mean, the worst that can happen is that can happen is we get shot down. But at least then...well we can move on. You seem like this has been going on for longer than mine, but the band aide method would be best."

"I don't know SkyGuy. It could make things awkward."

"Yeah, but honestly, it could only help. Hell, who knows? They could very well say yes! Come on blueeyes! Are ya with me?"

Lisa hesitated before she shyly typed her response. "Alright. Tomorrow I'll talk to him if you promise to talk to your boss. And we'll meet back here in the chat and tell what happened. Deal?"

"Sure! And if we get shot down, I'll buy you a drink!"

"You're on!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lisa waited anxiously in the hanger the next day as Rick finished his patrol. It was the first time she'd be able to speak with him privately all day and she decided to follow through with her promise. Granted she berated herself for even agreeing with the deal between her and SkyGuy, but she was a woman of her word. She spotted her not so secret love as he made his way to her, his expression nervous. _'Probably thinks I'm here to chew him out.'_

"Hey Lisa." Rick greeted, his nervous look remained. "I, uh, I hope you can spare a few minutes. I have something I want to talk about."

"That's a coincidence as I have a few things I need to discuss with you as well."

"My Office?" Rick offered, gesturing to the observation bay that was never really used. Lisa nodded and the two headed up to the bay, reaching it ten minutes later. The stood in silence for a minute before they faced each other.

"Lisa..."

"Rick."

They stopped before both laughed, the tension in the air rapidly evaporating. "You go first Lisa."

She shook her head, still smiling.

"No, you first Rick. You said you needed to talk to me first. So you go first."

Part of her was trying to avoid asking him out, and using a legitimate excuse to SkyGuy that she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him. Rick gave a nervous nod and spoke.

"You know that chat thing everyone is doing?" Seeing her nod, he continued. "Well, the past few days, I've been talking with someone named blueeyeslover12."

He paused seeing her startled expression and just nodded, thinking she was confused by the name. On the inside, Lisa was screaming in embarrassment! She'd been talking to Rick about himself! Oh this was the worst! Her mind ran through the conversations they had had and settled on the one where he described her. She felt her heart melt and fought hard to keep her face neutral, though her cheeks did flush some, thankfully Rick hadn't noticed.

"Yeah. Odd pen name, but I kinda like it." He chuckled, missing her warm smile. "Anyway. I had some...issues and confused thoughts I needed to work out and she helped me a lot. Most of it...well most of it was about you."

Lisa cocked an eyebrow, fighting down the impulse to smirk. Now that she knew just where his feelings for her fell, she decided to have some fun with this. Rick hadn't yet seen her playful side and with how he spoke, well...he'd be seeing it a lot more. "Oh? What about me? Are you spreading rumors about me?"

"No! No, nothing like that!" Rick exclaimed, an edge of panic in his voice. "Just...look, I'm horrible with words. And you always like to say actions speak louder than words. We had a deal and I plane to follow it through."

She watched him sigh and let her grin finally appear.

"Lisa, would you like to go out some time?"

Rick looked to Lisa and saw an amused grin on her face and was confused. His confusion was replaced by shock and horror from her reply. "You know SkyGuy, you were a lot more eloquet in the chat."

"How...? When...?" His panic became clear. "Oh my God! You are blueeyeslover12?! Oh no...I can't...I'm so sorry I called you a hardass Lisa!"

She cocked an eyes brow and placed her hand on her hips, her grin still not moving from her face. "I do seem to remember that particular conversation. And I can think of only one thing that you can do to make up for it."

Rick gulped, fearing for his life. "A-anyhting!"

"I will agree to go out with you, but you'd better knock my socks off Hunter." She gave a coy smile. "And maybe, just maybe if you play your cards right, we can get ride of any...tension we may have between us."

Rick shivered as she purred the last part of her statement, a gleam in his eye as his slowly grinned and rubbed his chin. "Well now. How can I refuse such an offer? It's a deal."

Needless to say, Lisa was very happy with the chat system she had been roped into.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I really hate myself right now. This idea popped in my head and wouldn't leave me the hell alone. This is such a sad one shot, I was in tears myself near the end of just writting it. This is a what if senerio that I really hate my mind for coming up with. I guess it's pay back for scrapping the really sad parts for the next chapter of Mars Alight. Anyway, please read and review. And don't kill me! Also, should have Alight updated by Friday.**

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Tears of Angels

The mood was somber, with much sadness hanging over the heads of everyone present. The weather matched, with an overcast sky and a light rain as the procession made it's way slowly through the graveyard, the destination clear as they approached. Six caskets were pulled from the transports that lined the road closest to the fresh graves dug six feet down into the hallowed ground, and no sound was made as they were carried as one to the lifts that would lower the fallen to their final resting place. While there were no bodies in the caskets, as they had not been able to recover any of the fallens remains after the final attack, they were filled with pictures, letters, and treasured objects that were dear to each of the departed. Each casket was marked with the ranks and names of them each, done with careful and professional detail. The crowd gathered as the caskets were set and the barres joined the waiting greif filled crowd. In the front most row sat a silent Rick Hunter, tears falling down his cheeks as he watched with a pain filled face, Max and Miriya Sterling setting to either side of pastor stepped to the pulpit and looked around at the gathered men and woman, his own face set in a sad visage as he began to spoke.

"Today, we gather to pay our final respects to these brave souls who stood before the darkness and fought it back at the cost of their very lives. Admiral Henry J Gloval. Lieutenant Sammie Porter. Lieutenant Vanessa Leeds. Lieutenant Kim Young. And Captain Lisa Hayes."

Rick closed his eyes tightly as the final name was read off. He could remember the day that had been just one too late.

 _Rick ran as fast as he could after Lisa as explosions filled the streets. 'Please let her be okay! I can't lose her! Not now that I realize just how much she means to me!'_

 _He frantically searched for a few moments before he saw her limp and unmoving form. "Oh God no! Lisa! Lisa are you okay?"_

 _The young man dropped to her side and gently lifted the breathing form of the young woman before him, his eyes stinging with relief induced tears. She blinked slowly before she gave her head a little shake and turned her surprised gaze to Rick. "Rick...What...what are you doing? You should be with Minmei."_

 _He smiled down sadly at her and shook his head as the howl of sirens and the smell of smoke and fire filled the air around him._

 _"No. She's not my futures Lisa. You are."_

 _Her eyes became misty as she put her hand against his cheek. "You mean...?"_

 _"Yes. I'm in love with you Lisa Hayes! I didn't know it, but when you confessed, it clicked. Great timing huh?" He chuckled._

 _Lisa smiled up at him, wiping her tears from her shinning emerald orbs as he helped them both back to their feet. His eyes never left hers and found himself pulled into a short kiss before she pulled back and smiled loveingly at him. "We'll talk after this disaster is over."_

 _"You're right Lisa. Come on! I want to finish this as soon as possible so I can get you back in my arms!"_

And they had finished it. He remembered how rage filled he had been when the SDF-2 had gone under. When he thought she had been killed. He'd mercilessly slaughtered every Zentradi fighter and pod that he came up against, his rage and grief so powerful he had launched a one man assualt against Khyron's Command ship. He'd killed dozens of the defenders and crippled several heavy gun emplacements before the sweetest voice he had ever heard came through the com channels and his heart had almost burst from the joy he felt...

 _Rick was numb to all as he fired a sustained burst into the nearest laser battery, stress warnings blaring to life across his console. He had just put Skull One through the most rigious moves she'd ever been through and she was not happy about it. His munitions light blared to life, warning him the 55mm gun pod had less that five percent left in the magazine. He didn't care. He'd use the damn thing as a club if he had too. And if that failed, his powerful veritech was a weapon in and of herself. Khyron would die for what he had done to Her._

 _"Rick! Rick Hunter is that you?"_

 _Shock coursed through him, followed quickly by relief and heart bursting joy as releived tears welled up in his eyes._

 _"Lisa!" He cried in relief. "You're okay!"_

 _"You bet I am fly boy! We're preparing to fire the main guns so I'd suggest you get out of there right now."_

 _"You got it Lisa!" Rick smiled, despite the situation and Skull One took a running leap from the soon to be dead cruiser, shifting into her fighter configuration and her after burners screaming to full power. "Don't wait to fire on my account love!"_

 _He heard her beautiful laugh and grinned as his fighter dived towards the deck, the altimeter dropping fast and the on board computer began calling him to pull up. He yanked back on the stick, leveling out some ten feet from the city streets and shot between two heavily damaged buildings and into the over cast sky, the two buildings, already on their last legs, gave from the passage of the fighter and collapsed. Rick watched as the mighty fortress fired, a beam of raw, primal energy seared through the left side of Khyron's ship. Rick watched in awe as it shuddered under the impact and waited for the explosion, as no ship had every survived even a glancing blow from the mighty guns. It didn't. A feeling of dreed began to well into his body as the now mortally wounded cruiser began to coast forward, the engines flaring out as power and fuel lines had been severed. It began to pull to the left as the right engine block sputtered out. "Lisa, that ship is still heading towards you! Can you fire again?"_

 _To answer is question, he watched in horror as the main guns finally succumbed to the stress they had been under and explosions ripped through the barrels as abused power conduits blew, shredding the capacitors and power relays. The guns were gone._

 _"Lisa, you guys need to get out of there! Now!" Rick screamed into the com panel._

 _Her face snapped on, showing a sad acceptance that shattered his heart more than her words did. "We can't Rick. The surge has disabled the ships. The escape pods are too damaged to use. I-I'm sorry Rick. I wish we could have had a chance to be together. Good bye Rick. Remember, I will always love you."_

 _The com panel went dark as Khyron's charge completed. Rick screamed in rage as he watched the Zentradi battle cruiser slam hard into the SDF-1, the conning tower illuminated brightly from the explosions chaining up and down the length of Khyrons ship until in a massive ball of fire, the SDF-1 disappeared from sight. Rick covered his tear filled eyes from the harsh light. Seconds after the fireball came to life it cleared. All that was left was the twisted and smoking remains of the once majestic fortress. Rick felt his heart break and he had trouble keeping his fighter in the air. He dropped to the city, shifting to Guardian and shot off towards the crashed remains, praying they had some how managed to escape. Her, Claudia, the Trio, and the Admiral. "Please God...don't do this. Don't take her from me."_

 _Skidding to a stop, he popped his canopy and dropped from his cockpit, stumbling as he struggled to make his way through the intense heat and smoke from he wreckage. He dropped to his knees as he made out what was left of the conning tower, tears flowing freely as he heard Max calling to him, his voice subdued and greif stricken. "Skipper...we can't see an Pods. Skipper? Rick? Come in Rick."_

 _Rick remained unmoving. The form of a man weeping next to the wreckage was what greeted Max minutes later._

Rick blinked his tears clear as the pastor finished and the young man rose to his feet, walking directly to Lisa's casket. He placed a hand on it, running his thumb gently over her name and he let out a choked sob before he lost control. Max, Vince, Miriya, and Jean moved to comfort him. The grief filled man looked to Max, his expression one of confusion and pain. "Why Max? Why her? What did I do to deserve this?"

Max had no answer as his own eyes grew misty and he pulled his brother in all but blood into a tight embrace as the others bowed their heads in silence.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Get out of here Vince. Warn Earth, The Warheads are not to be used no matter what."

Rick watched the face of his friend twist and contort, ready to argue before a resigned sigh left his lips and he nodded, cutting the com off. Rick sighed and felt he had at least made some small victory against those who'd see them dead. He felt the shudder from the SDF-3 as she tried to fight the pull of the black hole with her reaction control systems, but they were no where near powerful enough to do such a thing. He looked around at his grim faced crew and gave them all a sad smile. "We've done what we can. I'm sorry it came to this. But I am honored to have served with each and every one of you."

"Admiral! The unknown ships are coming around again!" A paniced voice cried out.

"Weapons?"

The tall man, Matt Davidson, just shook his head grimly. He heard the call that the unknown ships had fired and felt the dull thumps from the impacts before a host of alarms blared to life as the SDF-3 began to tremble and shudder. The last thing Rick knew before darkness took him was the lights blowing out as consoles exploded and an intense heat took him. The darkness took him as the pain consumed his very being.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He felt weightless. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked around, seeing a stark white fog enveloping him. Confused, he looked around and saw it was clearing. To his imense surprise, the halls of the SDF-1 solidified around him. A ship that had been destroyed some thirty years ago. How? He slowly walked forward, glancing around in wonder as people passed him by, greeting him with smiles. He was extremely confused. He was so lost in thought, he hadn't noticed his feet carrying him to the aft observation deck where a small group of people were waiting with smiles. Rick froze and his gaze snapped ahead of him as a familiar, and much missed voice met his ears. "Well you look like hell buddy!"

Rick's jaw dropped as his eyes met Roy Fokker's grinning gaze. Beside him stood Ben, Max, Claudia, the Trio, Miriya...all of his dead friends.

"How...?" He stopped and frowned before sighing. "I'm dead. Aren't I?"

"Yes you are Admiral." Henry Gloval smirked and gave a short wave. "And I must say, we are all very proud of what you have accomplished. You have done us proud."

Rick smiled slowly before he noticed something. "W-where is Lisa? Where is she?"

He felt a pair of delicate arms wrap around him from behind and his heart jumped into his throat when heard her for the first time in three decades. "Right behind you fly boy."

He spun around and his eyes drank up the sight of her. She looked just as she had that fateful day, a brilliant smile on her face. Rick raised his hand slowly, wondering if this was maybe a dream. His hand met warm, soft skin as her eyes never left his. "Lisa..."

"Yes. I'm here Rick." She moved her arms to wrap them around his neck. "And now we have all eternity to be together."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: A story line I was working on around the same time I was thinking about posting Alight. I had only actually made it maybe a quarter of the way through when I first started it before I put the idea on the shelf. Well, pulled it out, blew the dust off of it, and completed for upload to this folder. In this story line, Rick and Lisa knew each other since Rick was like six or seven and they ended up as friends. And is thie timeline, Rick Joined the RDF before joining as I read a few that followed a similar concept when I decided to write a RoboTech Fan fic. Not sure if I'll expand upon this idea just yet as I honestly didn't feel to confident about following this story line, fearing I'd screw up and just get flames. Anyway, read and review. Should have another one shot posted before the day is over and it'll be a bit of a companion peice to Alight Chapter 19 in a way. Please please please give me reviews!**

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For every action...

The sky was almost completely clear as the transport, one of the few remaining fossil fueled ones left in service, soared through the sky in the gentle breeze. The single occupant in the passenger bay glanced out at the water below as the sun light sparkled across the surface. He let out a sigh and decided to go forward to at least talk to someone instead of dealing the the annoying silence he was being exposed to. The pilot glanced back as the young Lieutenant stepped through the hatch and grinned at him. "Bored?"

The young man nodded and dropped into the co pilot seat and looked out over the ocean as the destination came into view. "Very much so. Wish they'd have moved the heap somewhere a little more accessible. Hell, I never even heard of this Island until after the crash a few years ago."

"I can agree with you there." The man conceded. "But since the UEG made the decision to fix her up there, we get shafted with long flight times so they save a dollar. Guess it's cheaper for them."

"Cheaper is another word for greedy politicians."

The pilot laughed as the young man grinned. "Fair point. The Honorable Senator Russo springs to mind."

"Little rat bastard." The LT muttered as the island grew larger. He could start to make out more details in it from trees to the slopped cliff walls that shaped a half moon, offering some protection to the massive ship that sat in the center, hidden from view. "Think he'll choke on a peanut or something in like, the next twenty minutes?"

"If we were so lucky." The pilot smirked. "So what detail you got?"

"Vermilion Squadron." He replied briskly. "I've been asked to take over after the last CO was lost in a flight mishap. You hear about it?"

"Reactor over heated on the runway because of a faulty coolant seal? Yeah, not a good way to go. Bad day all around. Whole VF fleet got grounded to check all the birds. Heard they thought it was possible a defect in the cooling system." The pilot grimaced.

"Yup. Skull's CO is an old friend of mine and pulled a few strings to get me assigned there." The man smirked.

"Ah, friends in high places huh?" The pilot chuckled. "Next you're gonna tell me you played with the SDF-1's XO as a kid."

"Who is the XO?" The man asked curiously. The only detail he had been told was that the Skipper was one Henry J Gloval.

"Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes." The pilot saw the young man's scowl and raised a curious eyebrow. "I take it you have a history with her?"

"You can say that." He growled. "That son of a bitch should have told me. Figures he'd keep that detail to himself."

"Oh? Care to share?"

The man shook his head. "Maybe some other time. Think our flight is just about done."

The pilot nodded and began his final landing checks before bringing the transport in and setting her down smooth as a baby's back end. The young lieutenant gave a thanks for the flight and made his way back, grabbing his single seabag. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he stepped off the craft and made his way to a familiar tall figure waiting for him. The young man had a glare on his face as he set his bag down and came to attention, his hand snapping a salute to the blonde man before him. "Lieutenant Rick Hunter, reporting for duty. Sir."

The older man before him noticed the hard tone in Rick's voice as he returned the salute.

"Good to see you again Little Brother." His frown only seemed to deepen at Rick's body language. "Did I do something to tick you off?"

"Oh you know. Not telling me my childhood sweetheart who went chasing after Riber is the ship's XO." Rick remarked dryly, spotting Roy's wince. "You should have told me Roy."

"Rick..." Roy sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You're right. I should have. But it's been five years almost. And what would you have done if I'd told you she was here? You'd have shot down my request in a split second. Fact is, I need you and your skill set here."

Rick glared at his brother, but understood his position. "You have a point. Does she know I'm here?"

Roy gave a shrug and Rick sighed.

"This should go over well." Rick muttered as he grabbed his bag and followed his Big Brother to the single Officer barracks.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa Hayes stared blankly at the report in her hands over the incoming new officers, more specifically, the replacement for Lieutenant Swabb. Her hands shook as she just continued to stare at the paper, her stomach dropping through the floor and color draining from her face as ice filled her viens. Of all the people they could have picked, of all the possible candidates...He was here. She could still remember the day she left him, standing in the rain and watching her leave. She could remember his pained face and the tears that had fallen. At the time, he was much too young for her to even consider settling down with. Sure, their fathers had been good friends and they grew up together, but at the time she just couldn't see him in the way he saw her. She knew she had broken his heart and he was still upset with her. Especially at the funeral for Mitchell 'Pop' Hunter last winter. She'd tried desperately to speak to him, to apologize for her actions back then. She truly missed her friend. But he had avoided her like the plague. And for as much as it hurt her even now, she could not blame him one bit. All her father could do was look upon her with sadness. He'd warned her not to do what she did, that Rick would grow to be a fine man and had been loyal and devoted to her. And she'd thrown it away because of her stubborn refusal to entertain the idea of being with a sixteen year old boy when she herself was twenty-one. Her decade of friendship with him had been ignored as she wouldn't even entertain the idea.

"Lisa? Are you okay?" A kind voice asked.

She took a deep shuddering breath and shook her head, fighting back shame and her tears. "No Claudia. I'm not. I'm not even in the same solar system as alright"

Claudia looked to the paper in Lisa's hands in concern and started reading through the list until her eyes caught sight of the only name that could cause such a reaction to Lisa. She looked knowingly to the woman as her face drained of color, her eyes not leaving the paper, feeling sympathy for the woman. She'd asked Roy how Lisa knew him when they had started dating and Roy had told her the whole story, how he had been upset himself at Lisa for what she had done but it was in the past. He had not treated her any different from anyone else and was in fact friendly with Lisa.

"It's about Rick, isn't it?"

Lisa gave a sharp nod and slowly placed the paper back in the folder and wiped her eyes. "I was such a horrible bitch to him Claudia. I thought I was so mature when I turned him down. Instead, I ruined a friendship I had for near ten years. He hasn't spoken to me since...well since I called and told him about Karl and me. He had a few choice words about both of us."

"Oh sweetie." Claudia placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

Lisa looked to her friend, anguish on her face. "It is Claudia, because even before Karl died, I had felt I made a huge mistake. But I just...he was only sixteen when he asked me to be with him. And..."

"And you had met Karl not long before that." Claudia concluded. "And with the age gap, you didn't feel it was appropriate and that Rick was probably no where near ready to engage in such a mature relationship."

"He was always more mature than most guys in their twenties." Lisa sniffed, bracing herself against her console. "But...I guess I went with what was easier instead of what was right. I didn't want to lose his friendship. Instead...I completely destroyed it. I didn't even know he had joined the RDF until his father's funeral last year."

Claudia watched her friend as the woman seemed close to a nervous break down, the shame pouring off her was so think, you could probably cut it with a knife.

"Lisa." The dark skinned beauty tried to sooth her friend's nerves. "Maybe you did make a bad choice when you were younger. Maybe you didn't. What matters is how you go about it from here. Maybe you should pull him aside after he finishes his check in and just talk to him."

"And say what Claudia?" Lisa let out a humorless laugh. "Sorry I spit upon your possible love for me? Sorry I broke your heart and pissed on the smoldering remains but can we be friends again? Maybe more in the future?"

Claudia was taken aback by Lisa's heated words as the woman closed her eyes briefly and lower her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I highly doubt he'll want anything to do with me out side of official ship business."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick yawned as he walked into the briefing room, his eyes not taking in everything as he made his way to his podium to prepare for the brief he had to give vermilion. He placed his paperwork on the table and began making notes of what he needed to discuss with them today. Roy had taken the liberty of introducing him to his new squadron yesterday after check in, and most seemed to be rookies. Guys who'd just finished flight school and had been shipped to the SDF-1 for their first duty station. Sighing, Rick continued flipping through the pages as he heard someone approaching and a mug of hot coffee appeared on the ledge attached to the side of the podium. Cocking an eyebrow his gaze rose, expecting to see one of his young pilots attempting to suck up or Roy dropping by to see how he was doing. He was not expecting to see a nervous Lisa Hayes standing beside him. He kept his face a calm mask as he greeted her. "Morning Commander. Anything I can help you with ma'am?"

He saw her face fall and her shoulders slumped. Rick really didn't care too much if her upset her. She hadn't given one damn thought to his own emotions six years ago. And while he would admit his anger towards her had mellowed over the years, the pain of her rejection still tore at him deeply.

"Nothing. I...I just wanted to stop by." She stated in a soft voice. "See how you were settling in."

Rick closed his folder and placed his hands on the podium. "I'm settling in fine ma'am. It will take time to get used to the ship, but I think I'll manage. Thank you for your concern. And my condolences on your loss which is overdue Riber was a good man."

Lisa winced at how he seemed to put emphasis on the word concern and had to fight from fidgeting. At least she could tell he had been sorry to hear abut Karl. "Rick...I..."

"If you're going to say what I think you are, just save your breath Lisa." Rick's heated tone made it clear he wasn't willing to listen to her. "I don't want to hear it. We've both been hit hard these past few years. And I know what kind of pain you've dealt with. But you destroyed me Lisa. You practically laughed in my face and told me I was an idiot."

She opened her mouth to protest until Rick raised a hand to silence her. "You didn't say it directly but that is what it felt like."

Her tears fell as she dropped her head. "I know. I know what I did was unforgivable."

"You remember when we were kids and found those fireworks?" Rick asked her.

She nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

"When we lit them, we were confused why they didn't go off. I grabbed one like a moron and it went off in my hand. Burned the hell out of me. That's what you did to me Lisa. My feelings toward you were that firework that I wanted to see ignited, to enjoy every moment of it with you by my side. But instead, you burned me in the worst way. I'll remain civil with you during duty hours. As for off hours, I haven't decided yet. Your best bet is to stay clear for now unless it's for official business."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick was not in a good mood. The day was a disaster. First the main guns on the SDF-1 spring into action and vaporize a pair of alien ships in orbit. Twenty minutes after that lovely surprise, they found themselves deep in the shit as a what seemed to be a full on assault by an alien force engaged them in a fierce battle over and in Macross City. They'd managed to hold the aliens off before the ship made for orbit before being forced back down by the alien fleet making for orbit. And to top off all the bad news for the day, they'd been transported out past Pluto thanks to a misfold. And now, Rick had just finished writing condolence letters for the eight pilots he had lost today. Not even two days into his first command, and he had lost eight men. He growled and tossed his pen across the desk, closing his eys in frustration and ran his hands through his hair before letting out an explosive sigh. He was sorely tempted to stop by Roy's and see if he had a stiff drink he could spare but banished that idea as it would do him no good. A sharp rap on his door broke him from his thoughts and he grumbled as he walked over and pulled it open an little more forceful than what he had intended. Roy Fokker cocked an eyebrow at his little brother. "Pissed?"

"You could say that." Rick muttered out, stepping clear to allow Roy in. "What can I do for you sir?"

Roy turned to his brother and gave him a level stare, hearing the anger in his voice. "First, drop the tone before I knock it out of you. Second, what did you say to Lisa?"

"Why? My personal life now official business?" Rick bit out. "My apologies for not telling you every little detail about my day sir."

"Drop your attitude Hunter." Roy growled, crossing his arms and glaring at Rick. "Normally, I'd say no. But when it affects the Ops Officer's ability to do her job it becomes my business. What. Did. You. Say?"

"I told her I'd be civil during duty hours. Other than that, she should stay clear."

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose with an explosive sigh. "Rick...you really need to let it go. Your outburst affected her to the point she almost missed a squadron that was still out there before the fold, putting their lives a great risk. I told the Captain I'd speak with you and find out what happened."

Rick felt guilt well up inside him. Not so much that Lisa was upset at his words, but because of the fact it had put his fellow pilots at risk. "So what do you want me to do? Just forget what she did? Roy, you know how messed up I was after she slammed the door in my face."

"I do Rick. And I'm not going to tell you that your anger is misplaced because it's not." Roy conceded with a resigned sigh. "But it's been going on for too long. You need to sit down with her and actually listen to what she has to say. I'm not saying she was in the right for what she did. But I'll tell you right now, you are in the wrong."

"You don't understand Roy!" Rick's heated voice made Roy wince. "It's not her I pissed at! I'm pissed because I finally thought I was over her! And then when I heard she was here...I'm furious with myself because I still love her as much as I did when I was sixteen! If I'd have heard her out...I don't know what I'd have done. I'd have probably went right back like a lost puppy and that's what has me so mad I can't think straight! Why? Why would I go back to the one who killed me on the inside? Why do I want to so bad to put myself in that position again?"

Roy was stunned at his brother's admission. "After all this time?"

"Always."

Roy placed a hand on his panting brother's shoulder and gave him an understanding look. "Tell her that. Please Rick. Right now, we can't afford to have anyone distracted from their duty. Not over something like this. Talk to her tomorrow before shift."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Commander. Can I speak with you for a moment."

Lisa turned to the sound of a familiar voice and saw a stone faced Rick, his blue ice narrowed at her. She averted her eyes and turned to leave. "I'm afraid not Lieutenant. We have nothing to discuss in any official capacity."

Rick remained stone faced as he crossed his arms and spoke. "You'll talk to me or I'll tell everyone what happened on your eighteenth birthday."

Lisa froze, her face going bright red as she turned and glared at Rick.

"You wouldn't dare." She hissed, remembering that day in question. She had a pool party and she had a...wardrobe malfunction that ended up with her pretty much flashing a young Rick and most of the guests. Even Roy didn't have the balls to threaten her with that particular story.

Rick smirked evilly, his arms still crossed. "Try me."

She growled in annoyance before a small smile tugged at her lips.

"You've always been a pain Hunter. Fine."

Rick turned and Lisa followed behind him as he entered the small observation room that was completely empty. It gave a stunning view of the star field, one that Lisa would say was quite a romantic view. Rick rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Alright. We're going to finish the conversation you started yesterday."

"Thought you told me to save my breath." Lisa remarked bitterly, crossing her arms and refusing to look at him.

"That was yesterday. This is today." Rick stated. "New chances and all that. I was an ass yesterday and I should have listened. I'm willing to hear you out."

Lisa was surprised hearing him say this but still refused to meet his gaze. They were silent for several minutes before Lisa finally let out a defeated sigh and finally looked to him, seeing his expectant face. She owed it to him to admit her mistake. "Five years ago...you pretty much purposed to me. You were sixteen at the time and I thought it was just a crush you had. Not something real."

She saw the hurt flare up in his blue eyes and the muscles in his jaws tense and waited for the blow up she was sure was coming. But after several seconds, it didn't so she hesitantly continued on.

"I was twenty-one. I knew it wouldn't be acceptable to even date someone at that age, despite the fact your father was okay with it. As I said, I felt it was a crush at the time and figured you'd end up feeling differently as you grew older. I admit, you've always been a handsome man, even then."

She saw some color creep into his cheeks and smiled. "And you were the best friend I ever had. I didn't want to risk that if it didn't work. Looking at all those facts at the time, I felt it was best to say no and move on. Then, I met Karl. He reminded me so much of you. From how he cared about me to his mannerisms. I fell in love with him for those reasons though I hadn't realized it at the time. Once I did...I knew I had made a horrible mistake. But instead of admitting it, I chose to move ahead. He wasn't you, but when you told me to never contact you again after pretty much laying into me after I told you about the engagement, I knew I'd never have you. Karl always thought it was because you had ended our friendship. He never knew I was so heart broken because I knew I had completely lost you. Some part of me knew that I cared far more about you than I had ever admitted."

Rick remained still and silent as she spoke, his mind racing from what she was telling him.

"When I saw you at the funeral, I wanted to tell you then. But I couldn't. You were still so angry at me that I lost my nerve." Tears started to fall down her cheeks as she looked away from him. "I know I can never make up for all the pain I caused you. You made that very clear yesterday. And I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I'm sorry Rick. I'm sorry for all I did. And I would do anything to prove that to you. To have another chance to do this the right way."

The silence filled the room and Lisa was expecting to hear him leave or to tell her to go to hell. She'd deserve it. She didn't expect to hear his voice, soft yet strong. "You're right. I'm still upset and hurt. But I can see how much more torn up you are about it."

She looked up at his face, seeing a calm acceptance.

"And you've paid back the hurt ten fold. I admit, I lost my temper with you yesterday and I was wrong for it. But it wasn't because of what you did. My anger was at myself, my weakness to move on."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't forgive you Lisa." Her face fell as he spoke. "But that's because I already have."

She snapped her eyes back up to him as he stepped closer to her. "I forgave you a long time ago. My anger was because even after what you did, even after telling myself that I had moved on...when I heard you were here, on this ship, I knew I hadn't. I still love you as much as I did then. If anything, it's grown over the years. I can't help but be upset about it Lisa. But that's because you fog things up. You always have. You spin me about. It drives me crazy!"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he took her hands in his, his pain filled blue eyes speaking more to her than his words had. "Part of me is willing to jump right in and go for it, but that's a foolish idea. We need to work as a team to fix this. I'm willing to give you a chance if you're serious."

Lisa searched his eyes, wondering how she could go about proving it to him and an idea hatched in her mind. Hesitantly, she used on of her hands and ran her thumb across his jaw before placing it behind his head and pulling him towards her, her eyes not leaving his until her lips met his. It was a short and sweet kiss, one filled with more meaning than could be put into words. She pulled back, eyes locked onto his as hope flared in her very being. He smiled as he spoke. "Well, that's a good start. We'll play it slow for now. Deal?"

For the first time since she'd spotted his name on the rosters, Lisa smiled brightly.

"Deal."

"Good." He smiled down at her. "At least now that we've cleared the air, maybe the Captain won't wring my next for distracting his XO again like this morning."

Lisa blinked in surprise and cocked her head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

"Roy told me you were so distracted this morning, we almost didn't get everyone back on board before the fold. Said the Captain was not too pleased to hear I was the cause of it." Rick explained, his brow furrowed before he frowned. "No such thing happened, did it?"

Lisa laughed and shook her head before looping her arm with his. "Nope. It sounds like Roy and Claudia are working to help us both."

Rick scowled and shook his head.

"While I'm okay it worked to get us to finally talk this out, I'm going to get him back for it." He grinned and looked down to her. "But I'm not even sure I can be mad at him. After all, we should have talked last year."

She nodded her head in agreement as they stepped into the corridor, eye turning to look at the pair in surprise, but Lisa ignored them. The more people that saw them like this meant word would pass quickly through the ranks. She'd be damned if she let any woman try to take Rick from her now. Though she really needed to find away to thank the Fokker Duo for their help.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She entered the bridge and noticed surprised eyes from the Trio, a curious stare from Captain Gloval and Claudia's innocent smile. Lisa couldn't help but shake her head as she made her way to her console and logged in before starting her duty shift. Henry gave a cough as the bridge was silent save for the tapping of controls and beeps from the computers around him. "May I assume your morning has been good so far Commander Hayes?"

She glanced to the Captain over her shoulder and gave a small nod with a smile.

"Yes sir. Seems today is looking to be a good one."

Claudia laughed as Henry blinked. The Trio looked to her in awe before Sammie spoke up. "Did you really make out with the new lead for Vermilion in the observation lounge?"

Lisa wondered how to go about answering this and couldn't help but feel a little mischievous as she turned to said woman and gave a small wink. "A girl never kisses and tells Sammie."

The bridge erupted into laughter as Henry tugged down his cover, trying to hide his smile at Lisa's sudden and much welcomed happiness. The woman turned back to her console and glanced to Claudia, seeing the smile on the other woman's face. "Thanks Claudia."

Said woman didn't even try to act surprised or ignorant of what Lisa was saying and gave her a warm and gentle smile. "Anytime Lisa. Anytime."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Alright guys, here is the second one I promised ya'll short one with some feels in it. Please let me know what you thought. A few words, or a massive reveiw, doesn't matter. And guests are welcome to drop one as well.**

* * *

Life

Kaylee was giggling at him. He was staring at the item in his hands with confusion. How had that happened? He'd been gentle with the thing and it betrayed him. Wiping the substance from his face and off his hands, he grabbed the next two items that he had setting before him and his eyebrow began to twitch. He'd seen Lisa do this a dozen times already! She'd done it one handed somehow! How?! He still had trouble opening the damn thing just to see how it should work! Grumbling he looked down to the toothless grin. "You are enjoying this way too much young lady."

The baby raised a tiny fist and let out a happy gurgle. Rick shook his head and looked back to the item he held.

"How the he-heck do I even use this thing?" He corrected himself quickly to avoid cursing in front of the infant, a habit he knew he needed to get into. Oh sure, it'd be hilarious for her first word to be a curse, but he knew Lisa would likely kill him for it. His five day old daughter was still giggling at him.

"Rick?" Lisa's voice called as the door knob twisted. "Everything alright?"

He heard her startled gasp and turned to her in shame as her eyes took in the scene before her. Rick was covered in baby powder and little Kaylee was just giggling away as she shook her tiny fists at him. All the while, he held a single diaper in his hands. The silence slowly built as he watched her eyes start to water and her mouth contorting in badly hidden amusement and he sighed, kicking up some of the powder. Lisa lost it, doubling over in laughter as Rick just glared at her. "It's not funny."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Rick! I think she'd about to say her first word!"

He moved into the bedroom and saw Kaylee gripping the bars with her tiny little hands and smiling widely at them, her few teeth sparkling white as she seemed to bounce on the mattress in the crib, her dark blonde hair shining in the light. The baby looked to Lisa and then back at Rick and her face seemed to scrunch up as she tried to speak. He watched in interest as her mouth moved, cocking his head to the side in wonder as she finally said what she was so determined to. "Pane."

Lisa blinked and looked to Rick, confused as the man seemed to freeze in place.

"Pane?" Lisa repeated.

"Kaylee..." Rick started slowly. "Do you mean plane?"

"Pane!" She chirped loudly, as if trying to confirm that's what she was saying. For good measure she looked up and reached for the mobile above her crib. "Pane!"

Lisa sighed and shook her head in exasperation as Rick gave victorious cry, dancing around the room to the amusement of Lisa and a giggling Kaylee. She looked to her daughter and rolled her eyes. "Of all the possible first words, mom, dad, uncle...you choose plane. You are your father's daughter alright. I really don't know why I'm surprised."

"Pane!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Bowie! Don't be mean!"

"Sworry Kay. Dana push me."

"Na uh!"

Miriya shook her head as the children began to rough house in the living room while Max just chuckled as the toddlers began giggling as the resumed their game. A game that Max didn't even pretend to know. He highly doubted it was a real one, but it was amusing none the less as Kaylee ponuced on Bowie Grant while his own little angel tried to tickle both her friends. Out of the three, Kaylee was the oldest by about a year followed in quick succession by Dana and then Bowie. Ben's son, Zach along with Roy's twin girls Mia and Annie were currently terrorizing their own parents for the day.

"Who is winning?"

"Daddy!" A small blonde missile impact into Rick as he entered, his flight suit still on and he gave a grunt. The man grinned and picked his daughter up before tickling her. The little girl gave a musical laugh as she begged him to stop.

"You little firecracker!" Rick chuckled as Kaylee hugged her father tightly. "Were you good for your Uncle Max?"

"She was a joy as usual Rick." Max told him from where he was sitting. "Little ball of energy."

"That she is!" Rick agreed with a laugh. "Lisa blames me for it."

"Well thank God she takes after Lisa in looks!" Max joked as Miriya walked back into the room from the kitchen.

"Ass."

"Daddy said a bad word!" Kaylee gasped, doing a rather good impression of her mother.

"What's ass?" All eyes turned to Bowie as the little boy looked up at a suddenly pale and fearful Rick. Max just shook his head and tried to hide his amusement while Miriya just started at him.

"You do realize Jean is going to kill you right?"

"Me and my big mouth." Rick grumbled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa watched her ten year old daughter skip into the living room, followed by her husband who looked like he was trying to keep a smug look off his face. Lisa raised a single eyebrow and gave her a knowing look. "You took her to the simulator, didn't you?"

Rick gave a look of mock hurt.

"Why would you even think I did? I know it's no place for a child! I'm a responsible father!" He grinned and looked to his daughter who was giggling at the scene. "Isn't that right Sparky?"

Rick had taken to calling Kaylee Sparky as she had some how managed to con Vince into letting her see what an Alpha engine looked like when he was watching her. Lisa had come home, amused with a grease covered daughter who was happily chatting away about what she had learned and how cool those engines were. Even if she didn't fully understand how they worked. The little girl gave the Hunter Grin right back at him, a knowing look dancing in her eyes. "Of course Daddy! You didn't let me no matter how much I cried and pouted. He was strong about it Momma!"

Lisa let out a laugh as Father and daughter shared a high five, the three year old in her arms squirming to be put down to play with his big sister and chanting "Kay." Little Mitch Hunter was the spitting image of his father but with green eyes where as Kaylee was a perfect mix of her and Rick and having his bright blue eyes. Lisa set the little boy down and he hurriedly made his way to his sister. "But you did go into the simulator young lady. Mom knows everything. Right Admiral Hunter?"

Rick just grinned and nodded. "Of course Admiral Hunter. But honestly, I didn't put her in one."

"Than who did?" Lisa asked, not one bit upset that her daughter had. "I found that flight suit for her."

"Momma, Daddy didn't put put me in one. It was Grandpa Hunter!"

Lisa just rolled her eyes before looking at Rick. "So...don't skip on the details. How'd she do?"

The amusement was coming off of him in waves as he tried so hard not to laugh.

"She managed to shoot down Baker."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick stared intently at the young man before him, his face a calm mask as he laced his fingers together. "As much as I may not like this little idea, I've been told the plan has already been given it's approval by Lisa. I'll be blunt here with you. While you're decent enough for it, I'd rather this not be taking place at all."

He rose to his feet and stared out the window into space as the SDF-3 continued on through the blackness. "Since I've been overruled in this matter, I will go along with it. However..."

He turned and glared at the young man who gulped in fear.

"I have expectations that you will follow to the letter or you will find yourself in a world of trouble with me. You tracking?"

"Y'Yes sir!" The fearful reply came.

"Number one, you will abide by my exact instructions to the letter! You deviate, and I will deal with you most harshly. Two, you will follow all the guidelines I laid out for this situation. You fail to follow them, you won't like what the consequences are. And third, if I find you did anything...anything that you wouldn't want me to witness or hear about...well...Let's just say the brig has a special cell ready for you. We clear?"

The young man nodded as Rick leveled his icy glare at the young man before his office door opened with such force, it bounced off the wall. He looked to the young seventeen year old girl glaring at him with her own blue eyes completely non pulsed. "Yes Kaylee? What do you need?"

"Dad! Stop tormenting Zach!" She demanded, looking so much like her mother that Rick winced at her tone. It was almost like Lisa was chewing him out like she used to do. "Mom warned me this might happen."

"Kaylee..." Rick began before Kaylee spun away from him.

"Come on Zach. We're going to be late for the movie thanks to my father."

Zach darted a look at Rick as Lisa entered the room, her amusement plain to see. She smiled at Zach and patted him on the shoulder. "You kids go have fun."

"Make sure she is back before 11 Dixon." Rick called with a threatening undertone.

The teenage girl stomped out of the room, Zach Dixon following right on her heels as he was still put off by the whole ordeal. Lisa just looked to her husband and crossed her arms. "I warned you not to try to scare him. Kaylee is going to be rather angry with you."

"That was awesome dad!" Mitch called from his seat on the other side of the room. "I didn't believe you when you said you could scare him with just words."

Rick grimaced as Lisa put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed. "Mitchell, why don't you go to your room for a minute. I need to have a word or two with your father."

"Uh oh. I think Mom is going to kill you Dad."

"No." Rick sighed. "It would be too easy and less painful. Go on Mitch. I'm about to get yelled at myself."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"The most we can do is make him comfortable for now." Jean told them. "The bullet Edwards hit him with...it did too much damage to his heart for us to heal."

Lisa fought back tears as Kaylee and Mitch were crying silently. The rest of the family that was still alive bowed their heads at the news as Roy punched a hole in the dry wall, rage and pain on his face. Edwards had tried to stage a coup but hadn't expected Rick to return early. The man had stepped between Edwards and Lisa when the crazed traitor had pulled a gun. His body was in the morgue, as Rick had managed to shatter his nose enough to kill him after he was shot. Now...now he was dying. And nothing could be done to save him. Kaylee, twenty-five years old now, sobbed on her own husbands shoulder as Zach tried his best to comfort her. Mitch, having followed in his father's footsteps , gripped his hands so tightly he was digging bloody gouges in his palms.

"Can we see him?"

"Yes. He's pretty weak right now." Jean replied placing a hand on Lisa's shoulder. "I'm sorry Lisa."

The family entered, all of them from Lisa and her children to Ben and his family. They gathered around Rick's bed as he weakly smiled at them. "Hey guys. Fun day?"

"You idiot." Lisa cried and hugged her husband. "Why did you do that?!"

"To keep you safe my love. You and the kids...are my...world." He struggled to speak.

"Daddy..."

He turned his tired eyes to his oldest child and smiled at her, proudly. "My little girl...I'm so proud of you...never...never really said it. Figures...I'd say it...on my death bed."

"You always did have terrible timing you thick headed fool." Roy remarked, tears spilling down his own cheeks, Claudia doing what she could to support Roy while she herself was crying silently.

"Heh...you have...a point Big Brother. You take care...of yourself...old man." He smiled at Claudia. "Keep him...from being an...asss."

She gave a jerky nod as Max and Ben wiped their eyes. "And you two...jokers...Make sure...Make sure you...keep everyone...safe."

"You got it Skipper."

"You can count on me boss."

Rick smiled as his eyes landed on his only son. "Mitch...you're a hell of a pilot...and the best son ...a man could ever ask for...you're the man...of the house now...keep your mother...and sister safe."

Mitch nodded sharply, hot tears burning down his cheeks as his father turned back to Kaylee and Zach. "You two...will be good...parents...I'll be there...even if you...don't see me. You keep her...safe Zach. Promise me."

"Promise Pop." Zach sniffed out as Kaylee sagged into his side. "I promise I'll keep her safe with my life."

Rick's smile began to weaken as he had trouble keeping his eyes open. "Good man."

Lisa felt his strength waning and gripped his hand tightly, her own tears splashing down her face. "No Rick...no...don't leave us. Don't leave me...I'm ordering you to hang on!"

Rick gave a tired chuckle as he reached up with a shaky hand to cup her cheek, a loving smile on his face. "Sorry Admiral...that's one order...I'm unable...to...follow...love...you..."

His hand slipped from her face as his chest stopped moving, his smile still in place and his eyes half opened. She watched, with a breaking heart, as the light in them left. The machine next to her let out a long and flat tone. Rick was gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The crew gathered together on the fields of Earth. A place Kaylee hadn't seen in thirty years. Next to her stood her brother, Mother, Uncles, and Aunts as they looked out over the lush green fields. She looked down at the child that stood next to her as Zach placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "Dad would have loved to have seen this."

"He would have indeed." Lisa remarked wistfully. "He would be itching to take to the sky."

The group gave a small sad laugh as Rick probably would have already been in the air by now.

"Dad always said nothing beat flying a clear blue sky." Mitch stated, his own eyes skyward. "Got to admit...it looks beautiful."

"He's still with us." Roy remarked, using his cane to step next to his nephew and niece. "He's in our hearts and watching over us."

As if to prove his point, a gentle breeze kicked up. To Kaylee, it felt like her father had just given her hug. Mitch felt his father's firm, comforting grip on his shoulder. To Lisa, she felt his love in the air and heard the wind carry his voice as she could have sworn she heard Rick whisper 'I love you' in her ear. The Hunter family looked up to the sky, with teary smiles and promising the man watching over them that they'd see him again someday and that he was not forgotten.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I blame aikiweezie for this writing frenzy. Between getting Chapter 20 of Aight going, I took a gander through her stuff along with some other recommendations from some of you and combined them into this. Don't sweat, Chapter 20 will be up by saturday and is coming along fine. This one was straight from scratch much like the prior oneshot. Anyway, I noticed a habit I have of Rick suddenly confessing in all my oneshots that he is in love with our favorite space Heroine! And I realized it was a bit too unrealisitc for him to suddenly jump from Minmei to Lisa as I've had him do and seen done. Why not a more...hesitant approach? But how would that situation come about? Drinking? Done that. Death? Done that too...twice. Gathering of friends playing truth or dare? That's the next one. What about a more serious situation? One that is a very real problem out there? So here it is.**

* * *

Reckless Choices...

The first thing that greeted her was a wave of pain followed by a massive urge to vomit. She bolted out of bed quickly and rushed to the bathroom just barely in time. She retched and chunks splashed into the water and the smell made her retch again. She panted as her body stopped trying to purge itself for the moment and leaned against the toilet as she heard the door open. She chanced a look through her bleary eyes and made out the fuzzy form of Claudia.

"Well. Nice to see you're awake."

"Wha...what happened to me?" She rasped, feeling the sick in her mouth and spit it into the toilet, trying not to vomit again.

Claudia paused for a moment to make sure Lisa wasn't going to retch again and placed a glass of juice beside her, close enough to reach, but far enough not to be spilled should she puke again. "Well...you were almost date raped."

Lisa froze at her words and turned to face her friend. "How...what happened? And...how do you know that? How did I get home then?"

"Rick text me." She answered simply. "What do you remember about last night?"

Lisa closed her eyes and willed herself to drag forth the hazy memory before she gave a shudder, her stomach clenching painfully as she turned her face back to the freshly flushed bowel. She dry heaved for a few moments before she wiped her mouth and gulped in a lungful of air.

"Seeing Minmei at Rick's house. The...the kiss. Then I went to the Set Up. That's all I remember. How did he know where I was?"

Claudia nodded her head and patted Lisa's back as the woman retched again, this time spewing some bile into the bowl. "That sounds like the time line so far. Rick told me everything that had happened from his perspective, including the fact that he kicked Minmei out after she pulled that Mistletoe stunt, and his thoughts which might interest you..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick stormed off towards the bar, in need of something to take the edge off the night. He was furious Minmei had kissed him. Two years of nothing, then she shows up on his doorstep, asking to stay for awhile and not even giving him a chance to even say no. He'd relented, thinking maybe it had just been the stress and he wasn't one to turn a friend in need away. She'd quickly overstayed her welcome fast with the constant snips about Lisa and how close he and her were. That he should find other friends. He'd asked her just what her problem was and Minmei had quite clearly made it known to him that she did not approve of him spending time with another woman that had strong feelings for him. When he'd asked her to explain she'd shouted that Lisa was in love with him and he was too dense to notice. That was the end of that as he told her to leave. When she hadn't, he made a phone call to PMO and had them come and physically remove her from the property. Well, looks like she'll be right back in the spot light soon sporting a rather interesting mug shot.

He walked through the doors and made a bee line for the bar, signaling the man behind the counter. "Budlight. Bottle if you have it."

The man nodded and grabbed a cold bottle, twisting the cap off for him. Rick tossed a few bucks on the counter and took a deep draw of the beer. Looking around, he spotted a group of guys sitting around in a circle, laughing about something. He really didn't pay it any mind as he turned his eyes back towards the TV above the bar.

"Woman troubles friend?"

Rick snorted before he took another sip. "Understatement of the century."

The man nodded and propped his elbows on the table.

"Well son, what's got you looking like a kicked puppy? Did she throw you out? Caught her cheating? What?"

Rick hesitated, wondering if he should but remembered the bartenders creed: What's said at the counter is never spoken to those who are in the story. He sighed and launched into his story, explaining, with out names of course, how he'd fallen for a girl three years ago that didn't give him the time of day and how he had begin spending more and more time over the past two years with a good friend of his and how he had started to have stronger feelings for her. The Barkeep listened, nodding along and pulling a fresh beer once Rick finished his current one. Rick asked him to open a tab when he pulled the next one and continued his story, finishing with how he kicked the other woman out after she'd pulled her stunt, telling him verbatim what the other woman had said.

"Damn son." The barkeep whistled. "That's one hell of a tale. You did the right thing by getting rid of the crazy. You know, it sounds similar to another tale I was told tonight. Pretty young woman was hurting about a gent she loved that wasn't even in the know of how she felt. Looked right torn up. Said she wished she'd confessed sooner."

Rick winced as he heard that. That must be a very painful experience to go through, one that he knew well. "That sucks."

"Yup. She'd over there with those guys making a ruckus. Don't know um as they aren't regulars but if I can find a reason to throw um out, I will right quick. I just hope that young lady isn't in any danger. They just rub me the wrong way, you understand?"

Rick followed the man's gaze and his eyes widened in shock. Sitting next to one of the shadier looking guys, sat Lisa Hayes herself, laughing with glazed eyes and...oh hell no! Rick quickly rose to his feet and glanced at the barkeep. "You have insurance on the place?"

"Yes." He asked cautiously. "Why?"

"Call the Cops. If they've done what I think they have to her..." He paused before a smirking. "Well, you'll have a reason to kick them out."

Rick marched over the the group and came to a stop as the unclean looking man stooped laughing and looked to Rick. "Can I help you boy scout?"

Lisa looked at him with unfocused eyes and dilated pupils and smiled brightly, jumping to her feet and starting towards Rick. He smiled at her in return but kept an eye on the guy sitting there. She stumbled forward and crashed into Rick, laughing as she caught herself, her hands grabbing the front of his shirt. "There's _my_ flyboy!"

"Hey Lisa." Rick chuckled, flushing some from her possesive tone of voice. "You seem to be in good spirits."

She beamed at him and kissed his check before looking to the men watching Rick like a hawk. Seedy man looked a little nervous as this woman seemed to know this guy. Rick's eyes narrowed as his hand moved to his pocket, catching sight of what he hoped he would. It would give him justification for what he was about to do. "Guys! This is my Rick! Been in love with him for something like two years now! But he hasn't noticed."

She turned to him confused. "Why haven't you noticed?"

She didn't wait for him to answer and shrugged before kissing him heatedly, pressing her body against his. She pulled back with an impish smile as Rick just blinked in confusion before he felt his anger boil. Not because of what Lisa did. He quite liked that. No, he was enraged as he now knew just what had happened to her. "So why are you here? Thought Minmei was at your house."

"Minmei? Damn, lucky you dude!" Seedy man seemed to feel more relaxed at hearing that. He'd first thought Rick was this woman's boyfriend but hearing he was involved with the pop star, well maybe this would still work out for him and his boys.

"I'm not seeing Minmei." Rick grunted before looking to Lisa. "She's actually probably being checked into a jail cell as I had to call the police to get her to leave."

"Oh! You kicked her out?" Lisa asked. "Guess she kisses horribly. Not me though! Plenty of practice with you!"

Rick felt his cheeks warm slightly as Lisa laughed again and grabbed his back side before her hand decided to wonder around front. Yup. Definitely what he thought was going on. Seedy man gave a short cough and stared pointedly at Rick. "Well, if you'll excuse us, I believe _we_ were talking to the lady. _I_ have been buying her drinks all night."

Rick gently moved Lisa behind him and the barkeep, knowing something was about to happen, quickly moved to pull Lisa clear so she wouldn't get hurt. Rick crossed his arms as the four men rose to their feet, seedy man glaring at him. Rick just stared right back, calm on the outside but begging them to throw the first punch. He casually glanced at the two big guys next to him before returning his gaze to seedy man. "If I were you, I'd sit down and wait for the cops. Otherwise...it'll be unpleasant."

"There's one of you and four of us Boy Scout."

"You know. You have a valid point." Rick smirked right at the man, tensing as the two gorillas next to him cracked the knuckles. "But I only have one thing to say before we do this."

"What's that Boy Scout?" Seedy snarled. "Gonna beg us not to kill you?"

"Hardly." Rick chuckled darkly before his eyes hardened. "You should have brought more friends."

His hand shot out, catching the first guy in the gut, doubling him over. Moving quickly, Rick grabbed him by the jacket and twisted his body, sending thing one into thing two and both went tumbling over the table. Ass number three tried to grab Rick from behind as the two things groaned and tried to stand. Rick jerked his head back, the back of his head meeting the nose of number three. The guy yelped, letting go and tried to stem the blood flow as Rick spartan kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing to over a table and onto the floor before he grunted as Seedy managed to catch him in the jaw. Thing One and Thing Two had recovered and bellowed as they lept. Rick was knocked off his feet and rolled with the impact. Thing Two scrambled to his feet and tried to launch himself at Rick, meeting a boot to the jaw. Rick felt the satisfying crunch that signaled a broken jaw as Thing Two hit the ground side ways, the impact knocking him out cold. He got to his feet quickly and caught Thing one in the throat. The man stumbled back, a strange rattling gasp coming from him as his eyes bulged. Rick grabbed the man by his shirt and punched as hard as he could, hitting the off button and laid the man out. He shook his fist briefly as number three swung a bar stool at him. Rick ducked and the stool hit Seedy, sending him spinning away. He didn't let number three get another swing. He grabbed the stool and shoved it back, slamming into the man's face before yanking it from his hands.

He tossed the stool to the side and grabbed him before sending him flying through the glass window that shattered as he toppled through it, the impact with the concrete knocking him unconscious. Rick was panting heavily as as he strode to Seedy man and yanked him up before slamming him against the wall, his right forearm pinning him in place as he struggled to breathe. Rick made sure the cameras saw his hand go into the man's jacket pocket empty and felt around for a moment before finding the bottle he'd seen Seedy place in his pocket. He looked quickly at the cover before he let out a low rumbling growl. "You son of a bitch! You slipped my friend a date rape drug! I should kill you right now you scum!"

Rick heard the sounds of sirens and clenched his jaw.

"As much as I want to, I let the cops deal with you. Say good night pal."

Rick reared his head back and slammed his forehead against Seedy man's face, sending him to sleep. Rick let him slid to the ground and rubbed his forehead, knowing he'd have a headache and turned away. In less than five minutes, he'd managed to destroy four would be rapists and felt damn good about it. He spotted an astonished Lisa who quickly rushed over to him, pushing her body against his once more.

"That was incredibly hot!" She gushed and tired to pull him into a kiss. Rick kept his head back as she pouted, seeing such a powerful desire in her eyes was doing all kinds of things to him.

"Lisa. Please calm down." He used his own hands to push her back as she she bit her lip, looking so damn adorable. _'Damn it woman! You're making this hard...DIFFICULT for me. Damn it! Mind out of the gutter Hunter!'_ "Lisa, you've been drugged. Those guys were going to probably rape you."

"Oh..." She looked to them then back to Rick, cocking her head to the side. "Well, what about you? If it's you, I gotta tell you that you can't rape the willing."

Rick flushed bright red as she tried to press back up against him. Part of him was freaking out as this was really not the Lisa he knew. The other part of him was most definitely interested in her proposal, but wouldn't act on it anyway as she was not herself. He was pretty relieved when the officers showed up and Rick was able to distract himself from Lisa as he told the officers everything that had transpired. They thanked him for his information and Rick quickly sent a text to Claudia asking her to stop by the Set Up to help him get Lisa home. She arrived to see Rick gripping Both of Lisa's hands and his cheeks aflame as the Barkeep just shook his head in amusement as he went back to cleaning up the mess. "Rick, why are you holding both her hands?"

Lisa grinned at Claudia, her own cheeks flushed. "He won't let me play with him."

Claudia's jaw dropped in shock and looked to Rick as he groaned as Lisa tried to free her hands.

"She was slipped ecstasy. Now she keeps trying to pull my pants off."

Claudia felt her anger bubble and began looking for the one who would dare try such a thing and the Barkeep made a dismissive gesture. "No need to look for um. Cops snatched um up after he put one through the window and the other three to sleep. Son, you are always welcome here even though you did kinda wreck the place."

"I'll pay for all the damages,: Rick called as Lisa giggled, trying to unsuccessfully climb onto Rick's lap.

"No need son. You saved that young lady from a fate worse than death, Heroes are always welcome here." The man smiled. "Just get your lady home so she can sleep it off. You know there ain't a cure for that kind of drug yet."

"Please Rick...I need you." She purred. "I feel really good and I want to feel even better with you."

Claudia knew she shouldn't laugh at what she was seeing, but seeing the bewildered look on Rick's face as Lisa was trying to get him to cave...well it was funny.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"And we got you back here." Claudia told her. "I had to pin you between the door and myself to prevent you from jumping Rick in the cab. We managed to get you inside and to bed but not before you slapped Rick on the butt as he tried to get out of the room as fast as possible."

Lisa groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I guess he went straight home then."

"Nope." Claudia answered brightly. "He told me to take the pull out and he took the floor. He's making breakfast right now."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick looked up and felt his cheeks warm as an exhausted Lisa made her way into the front room. He gave a small smile and placed her food in front of her. Her nausea mostly banished, she muttered a thanks before digging in. The room was silent as Lisa ate, Claudia and Rick both sipping their coffee as her face became more and more flushed. By the time she finished, she looked to have sun burn. She looked Rick in the eye, gratitude on her face. "Claudia told me what happened last night Rick. Thank you for protecting me and my virtue."

"Hey, it's the least I can do for you." Rick rubbed the back of his neck, his face still flushed. "I knew something was up when I saw how...floaty you were."

Lisa blazed red as she looked at the table. "Yes. She did mention I was...amorous last nigh. I'm...sorry I threw myself at you."

"Lisa, you tried to rape the poor man." Claudia laughed. "You're lucky Rick is such a gentleman and would never take advantage of someone in that condition."

Lisa muttered unintelligibly as Claudia looked to her watch and frowned before looking to Rick.

"I have a meeting in thirty minutes. You mind keeping an eye on her till I get back?"

"Sure. No problem." He answered with a firm nod. "I don't have anything planned and it would hardly be a chore to hang out with Lisa."

Claudia smiled and said her good bye while two settled into an awkward silence. Lisa was looking anywhere but Rick and he was staring at her intently. It seemed like hours before he spoke. "You know...I didn't tell Claudia, but I was almost caved last night. You said we could sneak off to the bathroom for a few minutes. As much as I was tempted, I knew it was wrong. And I respect you too much to do that."

She looked at him through long lashes, stunned at his words. "You did?"

"Part of why I kicked Minmei out was how she told me she hated I was spending time with you." He replied, his eyes not leaving hers. "I may not know just where my feelings fall yet, but I will admit I do feel more than friendships towards you. You already told me what you feel, though you were drugged by a piece of shit last night. I do know I was beyond enraged. When I saw what was going on...I lost it."

"Y-you really threw a guy through a bar window for me?" She asked in a small voice.

"Threw a guy through a window, knocked out two, and almost crushed the shady bastards throat." Rick confirmed.

"You said..." She took a deep breath before speaking. "You said you don't know just what you're feeling towards me?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't mind finding out. You're a fun person to hang out with. And I do admit you're very attractive. I would like to give us a shot. But I don't know what I would do if I ruined our friendship."

Lisa saw the lost look on his face and made a decision. She rose from her seat and made her way around the table before kneeling in front of him, resting her elbows on his knees and placing her hands on the sides of his face. She remained motionless as she saw the confused turmoil in his eyes but saw honesty shinning through them and she smiled. "Why don't we take that chance?"

"But what if I end up forcing you into a bar again?" His voice was barely above a whisper. "What if...what if I'm not there to save you again? Claudia told me why you were there."

"Rick. I made the bad choice of trying to drown my sorrows in a bottle." She replied with a gentle tone. "It tore me up seeing you and Minmei...and I made a terrible choice that would have hurt me for the rest of my life. I was too scared to tell you when I realized what I felt. Too scared of rejection. You didn't force me into that bar. I put myself in that situation. And I am thankful you were there Rick."

"You were there because I hurt you." He stubbornly countered. "If I'd been more observant, I'd have noticed how you felt sooner. All I've done is hurt you all this time. And I can't forgive myself."

"Rick, you didn't know." She firmly told him. "You can't blame yourself for not knowing."

"But I should have. Looking back, the signs were clear as day." He muttered bitterly. "I had tunnel vision and it stopped me from seeing everything for what it was. For what you were trying to say."

"They do say hindsight is 20/20." She remarked with some humor. "Look, we both made mistakes up to and including last night. What matters right now, is where do we go from here. Do you want to give it a shot? You and me?"

"But..." He began until Lisa placed a single finger on his lips.

"It's a yes or no question Captain." She said in a business like tone with a smirk. "Do you want to give us a chance? See what we can become?"

Her gambit paid off as she saw a small smile tug at his lips. "Yes ma'am. I'd like that."

She smiled brightly and gave a nod.

"Then let's do this Rick. Let's give it our best shot."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Two possible scenes from coming chapters for Alight. Not sure yet if I'll use these or the others I have already partially written. Speaking of Alight, next update will be posted tomorrow evening! So here's a little fix for you guys to tide ya over till then! Credit for the prank scene is from an idea Giulio the Roman brought up in one of his reviews. Cheers!**

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(Alight Prank Scene: The Mini-Lisa!)

Henry heard the doors to the bridge open and didn't bother to look as it was probably Lisa coming in for some paperwork that needed his signature. Since the SDF-2 was nearing completion, she'd been spending her time familiarizing herself with her first command. He was proud at how well she'd risen to the challenge. Just like she had with motherhood. He smiled softly as he thought of Little Kaylee Hunter, an adorable three year old that called him Papaw. She had her mothers looks and Rick's eyes along with his insane amount of energy. All in all, the most perfect granddaughter a man could want. Hearing a startled gasp, Henry turned to look and felt a warm smile cross his face. Walking onto his bridge, in a perfect replica of her mother's uniform minus the heels, was little Kaylee herself, rubbing her eyes and making her way forward looking strikingly like a miniature Lisa. Even had her hair done the same way! The Trio were giggling as the little girl passed them, their eyes following her progress. Claudia was watching with amusement as the child wandered over to her mother's console and looked up at it with such a familiar expression, Claudia couldn't help but clamp a hand over her mouth at how dang adorable it looked. Henry rose to his feet and looked down at the child, a single eyebrow raised as he fought hard not to laugh. "And what are you doing on my Bridge young lady?"

Kaylee turned to him and rubbed her eyes as she gave a tired smile at him. He reached down and scooped the tired toddler up and she buried her face in his shoulder. From the hall, Henry got his answer as to how she even made it up here. "Of all the irresponsible and immature stunts!"

He chuckled as he heard the frustrated growl and turned to see Lisa entering the bridge and walking toward him, her irritation easy to see. Peeking around the door frame was a grinning Rick and Roy, both watching for a moment before Roy pulled Rick with him and the two men made themselves scarce. Claudia sighed and rubbed her temples, knowing who had probably conceived this idea. She had to admit though, it was hilarious. Henry passed the sleepy toddler to her mother, the child letting out a whimper as she clamped her arms around her mother's neck with a whispered 'Mommy'. Lisa gave Henry and apologetic look.

"I'm very sorry for this Admiral." She apologized. "My brain dead husband let his brother con him into this idea of a prank."

"So that answers the who. I'm curious about the why?" Claudia smirked.

"They seemed to think it would be funny seeing a, and I quote, 'Mini-Lisa' walk across the bridge." Her irritation back on her face. "As if I act like a tired child when I report for duty."

"Actually Captain, she had your mannerisms down to a T!" Kim laughed as the girls joined her.

"Even had the same look when she looked at the console." Claudia teased. "Annoyance and apprehension. Just the right amount of glare at it too!"

Lisa swatted at her friend in annoyance as Henry gave a deep chuckle. "She was a very welcome distraction to an otherwise dull day. I am not upset about it one bit."

"You may not be sir. But I am." Lisa stated calmly. "It was irresponsible of Rick to even think this was a good idea. I better get this little one back home."

They watched her leave before she paused by the hatch and gave Henry a shy look much to the amusement of those still on the Bridge. "If permissible sir, I'd like a copy of the camera footage to view myself. For comparisons sake."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Possible Betrayal Scene)

Lisa walked towards the door, curious as to who it could be. She wasn't expecting company. Miriya was on patrol with Max today and Rick was busy with a training breif. Or Death by Powerpoint as he liked to call it. Apparently, they were overdue for their annual training and she felt it ironic Rick had to give a sex brief on being responsible. After all, they'd both forgotten themselves in the heat of the moment and ended up with the most wonderful and beautiful baby girl. Said child, now going on three, was sleeping in her crib, a stuffed cartoonish Veritech with a goofy smile on it clutched tightly in her little hands. Lisa pushed those thoughts aside and opened the door, her eyes wide with surprise. "What are you ding here?"

The being moved fast and quickly stunned Lisa before pulling a cloth from his pocket. "I have a message for your husband. He pissed off the wrong beings."

Her world went dark as the the cloth was slapped over her nose and mouth.

-x-x-x-x—x-x-x-

Rick was walking towards his home, thankful the day was over. Long and boring training classes were the bane of all RDF personnel. He shook his head and entered his home and froze before rushing to Lisa's stirring form. "Lisa! What happened?"

The woman in his arms blinked a few times, still dazed before her eytes shoot and and she rose to her feet quickly, moving towards the bedroom where the door was slightly cracked "Kaylee!"

Rick felt his heart drop through the floor and followed, gripping to door knob as Lisa's anguished scream met his ears.

"He took her!" She cried. "That bastard Edwards took our daughter!"

Rick felt numb before a white hot rage welled into his very core. Moving past Lisa, he yanked open the night stand drawer and pulled out a key pad locked box. He quickly punched in the combination and grabbed the contents. It was a pistol that had belonged to his Grandfather from WWII. He slammed a magazine home before racking back the slid. With out pausing to say anything to Lisa, Rick stormed out of the quarters, side arm in hand. Crew quickly jumped out of the enraged man as Lisa called after him before she quickly called the Admiral. Rick found himself outside Edwards quarters and pointed the pistol at the locking mechanism. The postal gave a sharp report before the pad exploded int a shower of sparks before the lock failed. The door slid open, and alarm blaring as Rick stepped into the room, pistol raised. "Where are you Edwards?"

Rick walked deeper into the lit quarters and kicked the bedroom door open. He searched each room until he came across a thumb drive marked 'For Rick Hunter' on it. Making his way to the computer that Edwards had left logged in, he slammed the thumb drive in and waited for the video to play. The sneering face of T.R. Edwards appeared on screen. _"Greetings Captain Hunter. If you're seeing this, then you have just wasted close to fifteen minutes seraching my quarters for me. So sorry I was not there to greet you properly. As you know, I have you daughter with me. She's such an adorable little one isn't she?"_

Rick grabbed the edge of the desk as he held a bound and gaged Kaylee up for the camera to see. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to fucking murder you Edwards."

 _"I know you must be pretty upset with me. If I were in your shoes, I know I would be. But take pride Captain! Your little one's life will ensure we as a species continue! You see, the one called Khyron was very interested in gaining possession of your child. For what I do not know nor do I care. All that matters is he has promised that once the child is delivered to him for...study, he will cease his attacks on Earth and her people. This blood war between him and our so called 'Allies' has cost us much. Think of this as your punishment for you and your friends betrayal of our world by handing it over with smiles to those monsters in orbit. They killed the only woman I ever loved. And now, you will feel that same pain. It will be Grand..."_

Rick roared in rage, grabbing the computer monitor and throwing it into the wall before he flipped the rest of the desk. That son of a bitch! At least he left a clue as to where her was meeting Khyron. Rick left the trashed room and sprint off towards the hanger. He had a daughter to rescue and a man to kill.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Have we any clue where he has gone?" Henry demanded as he spoke to Breetai over the communications panel. "Have any ships landed on Earth?"

"No. None. We will do our utmost to ensure he does not leave. What you found out in that message is mist disturbing. Any ship that approaches will be destroyed."

"Admiral! Unauthorized launch in progress!" Sammie cried from her station. "It's Skull One!"

Henry rushed to the window and saw the mighty VF-1 kick to afterburners and she shot off, deck hands leaping clear as they had tried to stop the launch. Luckily, none had been harmed from what he could see. He closed his eyes briefly, wishing Rick good hunting. "Launch Skull and Vermilion. He will need help."

Hearing the way it was phrased, they all knew Admiral would not punish Rick. And they could agree with his thoughts. Henry began pacing his bridge before a frustrated voice caught his ears.

"What do you mean all our veritechs are non responsive!"

His head turned sharply to Sammie's voice as she listened intently before looking to Henry with a pale face. "All the fighters...every fighter has been locked out. No one can get passed the virus that's been uploaded to their computers. It'll take thirty hours to pull all the drives and clean them before reinstalling all the software."

"There had to be at least one or two we can get airborne!" Henry thundered.

"We're checking sir! It will take time."

"Time is a luxury we don't have!"

"I know sir! We're working on it!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick's harsh gaze swept over the snow swept ruins before him, searching for some sogn of Edwards. He truly hoped he was right. He got his answer as he spotted a jet black Zentradi ship lifting off from the ruins of Alaska Base and brought Skull One into a dive. Turrets swiveled to meet him, sending blast after blast of defensive fire at him. Missiles began streaking from the ship as her engines burned brilliantly, trying to make for orbit. Rick snarled as he came in, turning his fighter on her wing and letting off a pair of missiles into one of the offending turrets before shredding four more from sustained bursts from his gun pod. Coming in low over the hull, Rick yanked the selector to battloid, still screaming across the deck as Skull grabbed the rifle and blasted two anti mecha turrets in front of him. They went up in a chain of explosions as he rolled away from another. Skull spun on her heel, taking a knee and crippling the turret before looking around for an access hatch. There! The Mech made it's way to the hatch with some difficult as the wind began pulling at her frame. The hatch was sealed but that didn't matter. The mech punched down, denting the metal cover. Another punch and it bent back enough to grip.

Using all the strength available to it, Skull one pried the hatch free before a hail of laser fire lanced from the hole. Rick snarled and tapped a few keys, changing his missiles from proximety to impact detonation and armed them. A missile shot up with a short burst of rocket fuel and Skull grabbed it before hurling it into the hole. The explosion almost unseated her grip, but she held on tightly. Smoke began to pour from the hole and the Veritech smoothly dropped through the opening, gun pod raised. He made his way through the ship, each time his gun pod spoke, a Zed fell silent. It took him moments to find the med bay, thankful he remembered the schematics Breetai had shared with them and spotted Kaylee, crying and curled into a ball, her stuffed Skull One gripped to her chest. Rick slammed the shoulder of Skull One into the door, sending it skidding across the floor and shifted his mode to guardian. Kaylee opened her puffy red eyes at the noise and began crying to Rick as she spotted his form in the fighter. Being a gentle as possible, Rick lifted the container cover, telling Kaylee to remain still. Once it was clear, he popped his canopy after placing Skull One's cockpit next to the table with barely any gap. He hopped out and rushed to his daughter, Kaylee running towards him with a teary cry of "Daddy!"

"It's okay babygirl. Daddy's got ya. Let's get you home." He picked up his little one as she burired her face him his shoulder.

"Momma?"

"She's okay Kaylee." He told the frightened child. "She's waiting for us."

Rick gently lowered himself into the crash seat and clasped the belt the best he could around him and his daughter, Kaylee clutching at his chest as she sat on his lap. Rick turned and narrowed his eyes. "Kaylee, sweetie. Daddy needs you to cover your eyes okay?"

"Game?"

His eyes never left the sight before him. "Yeah. A game."

Skull One braced herself and three missiles leapt from their pylons and slammed into the group of zentradi before her gun pod flared to life, cutting down those that survived the initial explosion. Rick shoved the throttle forward and darted off into the corridoor, and Rick was careful not to put too much speed on as it would probably hurt his daughter that was now staring in amazement as the halls zipped by. Rick rounded a bend and saw he was at a dead end before the last missile he had had tore off down the hall and blew out the bulkhead. Seeing blue skies that were rapidly become purpleish, Rick hurried and shoot the gap. He cleared the black cruiser and eased himself on a trajectory home. Kaylee watched in awe before looking up to her father, Skull One shifting back into her fighter form "Fly?"

"Yes Kay. We're flying." He smiled warmly at his daughter.

-x-x-x-x-

The crowd was cheering as Skull One descended on the platform, Rick standing beside the veritech with his daughter sleeping in his arms. The crowd parted quickly as a single figure began fighting her way forward and stopped as she saw the smiling form of her husband. With tears in her eyes, she sprinted over to him and kissed him deeply before she took their child, weeping in joy as her daughter gave an annoyed moaned. "Momma...sleeping."

She gave a tear filled laugh before kissing her daughter's forehead, the sleepy toddler blinking in surprise. "I fly."

Lisa smiled and kissed her husband once more as the crowd let out a whistle and cheers for the two. Some sixth sense tingled and Rick looked up before his eyes flared and he pulled his side arm from his holster and he bellowed a single name. "EDWARDS!"

The crowd parted quickly as Rick took off after the traitor and followed after him. He saw the man dart into a machine room and he followed cautiously, gun raised. He had just crossed the threashold when a metal pipe swung at him, smacking the pistol from his hand. Rick rolled away from the blow and saw the rage filled face of Edwards. "You've ruined everything! You've doomed us!"

"And you're a dead man!" Rick snarled, leaping forward and tackled Edwards to the ground. The pipe went sailing out of his hands as he tried to pry Rick's hands from his throat. "You made a huge mistake in fucking with my family! You tried to sell my daughter off for what? Human Dominance? Khyron would kill us no matter what you do!"

Rick gave a pained yell as Edwards slammed his hands over Rick's ears, sending a wave of pain and disorientation through the man. He shoved Rick away and took a rough cough as the Captain struggled to get to his feet. "I can handle him! Once we rebuild the Grand Cannon, we can finally take back our world! But you've doomed us all!"

Rick grunted in pain as Edwards' foot caught him in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Rick shook his head and shakily got to his feet. "You're a fool."

The man didn't say anything as he cocked back and swung at Rick. But the young father had anticipated this and dodged before his own fist connected with T.R.'s good eye, snapping the man's head back. The crazed man returned the favor and sent Rick spinning to the ground, his full balance not yet back after the ear clap. He knew that at least his ear drums weren't burst from it. He gave a paine whimper as Edwards kicked him hard in the ribs, leaving Rick in a pained ball on the floor as he grabbed the pipe. He walked to Rick, holding it like a spear. "You know. I just realized. You're as much to blame for her death as those Zed friends of yours. If you'd have just taken a more thorough look, maybe she'd have lived. Oh well, at least I can avenge one of the responsible parties."

Rick closed his eyes as Edwards reared back. A sharp bark from a pistol followed by the loud clang from the pipe caused Rick to open his eyes. Edwards was looking at the slowly expanding wet spot on his chest in confusion before he looked to Rick. The two men locked eyes for a moment before the traitor fell over with a meaty thud. Standing behind him, breathing heavily was an enraged Lisa Hayes, Rick's smoking pistol in her hands. Behind her stood Miriya, scowling at the now dead body as she held Kaylee tightly, the little girl blinking from the loud noise.

"Never piss off a mother." Lisa snarled as she lowered the pistol.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Bit of a twofer for you guys today. One is a direct sequal to the Lisa Prank from the last one, and an added scene for Chapter 14. Enjoy!**

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Fair play

Rick walked into the main briefing room, wondering why there was the sounds of muffled laughter filling area. He'd just dropped Kaylee off at school and was dealing with her teenage problems of how she hated her clothes and need to find just the right outfit. Rick had to bite his tongue as she decided to wear shots and a tee shirt, he didn't like the fact that his fourteen year old daughter was already drawing enough attention from the boys at her school. Nor the fact that Zach Dixon seemed to be looking at her differently. Not that he had a problem with the boy. Far from it. Zach may look like his father to an extent, but he was more...calm so to speak, like his mother Sarah. He was a good kid. But if he thought Rick would even entertain the idea of his little girl dating before she was thirty, the boy would learn quickly how wrong he was. And Kaylee looked so much like her mother that Rick could understand why they would look. He had trouble keeping his eyes of Lisa still and they'd been married nearly fourteen years now! Roy was right when he told Rick that daughters were Nature's revenge on fathers. He sighed and entered the room and spotted a grinning Vince. Rick raised an eyebrow at his brother through marriage. "Good morning Vince. I take it you know why my pilots are laughing like idiots."

"Oh, you know sir. Just a joke." Vince snickered. "A really good one."

"Well don't skimp on the details." Rick smirked.

"It's a visual one."

Rick's eyes narrowed and his smirk fell of his face. "What did that idiot Baker do now?"

"Not Baker sir." Vince laughed. "Maybe you should go into the assemble room."

Rick frowned and wondered what was so hilarious in the room. He nodded and headed off, his temper starting to flare. So help them if one of those morons were mimicking him just to get a laugh. He wondered just who it could be. His ears picked up on a very familiar voice and his brow furrowed before his eyes widened. No...it couldn't be. Rick entered and his pilots seemed to not notice as they were trying hard not to die of laughter as the speaker continued on, passionately in his speech. Beside the only one it could be was a smirking Lisa Hunter. She spotted Rick's approach and smiled brightly at him as the man at the podium finished. In the front row, Baker was howling with laughter. The person behind the podium raised his eyebrow and said in a very good impression of Rick, "Something funny Baker?"

Said man just grinned and shook his head.

"No 'Admiral' Hunter sir. Nothing what so ever sir!"

The rest of the room burst into laughter as the man just gave a sharp nod and Lisa stepped beside the man, amused. "Well, thank you for that fine briefing 'Admiral.' I'm sure your men were very receptive to it."

The crowd laughed and clapped as the man grinned and gave a wave. Rick crossed his arms and gave a cough. The room went silent as all eyes landed on Rick, Baker gulping from the look he was getting. "Alright you morons. We've got training to do. You have two minutes to be in the locker room and ready to go. Both Sterlings and both Dixons, you plant it."

The rest of the crowd took off quickly as Rick just stared at a sweetly smiling Lisa. Max and Ben were grinning ear to ear while Miriya and Sarah just cocked eyebrows at Rick as if daring him to correct them for their little bit of fun. The man, or should that be boy, that had been speaking looked to Rick and gave him a Hunter Grin before he waved at him. "Did you see me Dad? That was awesome!"

Rick just shook his head as his mini double hugged Lisa and thanking her for letting him do what his Dad did. "Alright Mitch. What did you teach my pilots about today?"

He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he waited for his son, named in honor of his now gone Grandfather, Mitchel Earl Hunter. Little Mitch was now seven and was in a rather good replica of his own uniform. The little boy just gave a wide grin.

"I taught them that Orange Sherbert is the best ice cream in the world!" His grin fell as he looked thoughtful. "Baker said I was wrong and that chocolate was better."

Rick raised an eyebrow. "He did, did he? I think I may have to make him eat those words."

The group laughed as Rick hugged his son and whispered how proud he was of him before he looked to Lisa with understanding. "This is for the Mini-Lisa prank me and Roy played isn't it?"

Lisa just smiled.

"Yup. Been waiting eleven years to get you back." Her grin widened and she winked. "Have to say, you gave me the tool for my revenge."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Rick ran a hand through his hair, frustrated as he stared at the report card before him. How could this be right? There was no way. And yet, the proof sat before him. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked to his son. It was almost like looking into a damn mirror half the time. He silently apologized to his own father for all the grief he must have put him through. The old man was probably laughing his ass off in the after life at this. "You failed History. How?"

Mitch shrugged and looked sheepishly at his face, rubbing the back of his head. Yup, truly a mirror image.

"I uh...well..."

Rick raised an eyebrow. The boy just looked at him helplessly with no forthcoming explanation. Well, time for Rick to drop the hammer on him. "Until your grades come back up, you're grounded from the simulator. No video games or friends over either young man."

Rick knew it wasn't the games or the friends part that got him, it was the simulator ban that brought the sheer look of horror on his face. Both his kids had a love of flying, Rick having taken both when they were younger up in an Alpha Trainer. Both could fly fairly well. And both dreaded doing anything that would cause Rick to ground them from it.

"B-But...Dad, that's not fair!" Mitch whined.

"I'm your Dad buddy." Rick stated. "I'm not supposed to be fair when you mess up."

"It's just a D though!" Mitch countered, the fifteen year old countered. "Isn't that cruel and unusual?"

Rick sighed before giving a wistful smile. "You know, your Grandpa was pretty tough on me when I goofed up. Always told me he needed to be firm with me so I'd turn out right. And I'd like to think I did. I know he thought so. I always accused him of being unfair when he'd ban me from flying on the weekends. I thought it was cruel too. But it taught me not to repeat the same mistake. See, you know what it's like to fly in space and while it is an amazing experience to fly in a clear blue sky, nothing can beat it. Maybe I am being harsh on you by doing what my Dad would do if I failed a class."

Mitch perked up, hearing his father's soft tone.

"So does that mean I'm not banned from flying?"

"No. You're still banned." Rick confirmed with a smile. "I'm just saying I learned well from your Grandfather on how to deal with a stubborn child."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I was originally going to use these next section in the next chapter, but after rereading it, it bounced too far into either extremes. So instead of just deleting it like I normally would, I instead cut and pasted this onto it's own document and decided to upload it here instead. I think I went way too dark originally. Considering how happy it started in the chapter, it just doesn't work. Felt...forced ya know? Also, I personally don't think it fits the flow of the story now after rereading it several times. And i mean the whole story from chapter one! Anyway, chapter 21 is trucking along, only had to work for like, three hours today, so I've been slaving away at 21. If I can get the last 30% (Which this was a huge part of it!) I'll post it tonight. If not, mid morning tomorrow.**

 **~theGhostflyer~**

* * *

Scrapped idea for chapter 21 of Mars, Alight!

(Current Chap 21 is 70 percent complete)

Lisa was humming happily as she walked down the streets of Monument the next, Kaylee watching in awe as they passed by building after building from her stroller. It had been a eventful month for her, but the best one she had ever had. Her eyes landed once more on her wedding ring and a goofy smile graced her delicate features. The morning after their wedding night, Rick had grinned like a dork as he said 'Good morning wife.' She just smiled widely as she went on her way. She nodded towards the people on the streets as the passed by her, greeting and congratulating her. Rounding a corner, she came to a stop as three men stepped out of the alley a little ways down the block, all three dressed in utility uniforms. Something about this just seemed wrong. Turning around, she saw two more rounding the corner, the realization she had been followed flashed through her mind. She pulled Kaylee from the stroller as they closed in around her, their faces set in grim determination. One of the men spoke, though she couldn't see his face as he had his ball cap tugged low. "Greetings Captain Hunter. Our Lord Khyron would like to have a word with you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

T.R. Edwards rubbed his tired eyes. Ever since he and Hunter had spoken, his attitude towards him had cooled to the point that he was able to push his anger towards him away from the surface. He highly doubted he could ever fully forgive the man, but working with him had shown how dedicated to Humanities survival he was. He felt a grudging respect for the young father. He sighed as he waited for his computer to finish it's tracking protocol. The S-6 had called him, telling him they'd registered random bursts of some kind of encrypted data packets but couldn't crack it. It had been going on since the SDF-1 returned to Earth but hadn't been caught until recently when someone caught the sudden increase. Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. The carrier had been tuned to be hidden in the normal back ground noise, but strong enough not to lose the integrity of the signal. The strange part was, he could almost swear he recognized the modulation and encryption style. The computer would confirm if he was right in the next two hours. His office door shattered open and he found himself looking down the barrel of an old style M1911. He looked up, confused to see the enraged face of Rick Hunter. "Where are they?!"

T.R. Blinked in confusion as he just stared at Rick. "Where are who?"

"My wife and daughter Edwards." Rick snarled.

"Wait, Captain Hunter is missing?" Edwards eyes narrowed. "When?"

Rick lowered his sidearm, not moving it completely away from Edwards, but no longer pointed at his head. The man actually seemed genuinely surprised and Rick's instincts told him that Edwards may not have anything to do with the kidnapping. "Two hours ago, Lisa and Kaylee went missing from Monument City. They found the stroller."

"You mean someone actually had the damn balls to kidnap your family in broad daylight?" Edwards questioned before running a hand through his blonde hair. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the random data bursts I've been tracking."

"Data bursts?"

"Yeah. Caught a couple in mid transfer." He gestured towards the computer. "They looked familiar so I'm running them through a few decryption programs. They might actually answer who it was that now made himself your enemy."

"There is no need to guess." The grim voice of Admiral Gloval sounded as he entered through the ruined door. "We just received this message Captain. I think you'll want to see it."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _"Greetings Captain Hunter. I hope this message finds you in pure agony at the sudden disappearance of your family."_

Rick felt his rage boil as the sneering face of Khyron appeared on screen. He could see Lisa and Kaylee in a cell behind the now soon to be cooling corpse that was Khyron. _"You see, I found myself curious as to what lengths you would go to for them. What could you offer for their safe return hmmm? And then it hit me! Inspiration struck! I so want to kill you and yet, I also want that quaint fortress your people have so happily claimed as their own. So what do I chose? Your life or your ship? As pleasing as killing you might be, your ship is my ultimate prize. So I am prepared to offer you Micronians a deal. Give me the ship and allow me to leave you system unmolested, and I will release your whore and disgusting spawn completely unharmed. You Captain Hunter, are the one who will deliver the reply to me. You have one week. If you do not reply, I will eat the spawn and crush the female under my heel. I have attached coordinates for where you are to meet. I wish you all the worst in the universe. It's been a pleasure tormenting you!"_

Rick shook with rage as Henry's own body trembled. "Are they there?"

Henry gave a sharp nod.

"Catseye recon flights detected one small heat signature and one full sized signature. Both human. Nearly a battalion's worth of enemy ground forces supported by the remaining fighters and battlepods left on our planet."

"I'm going." Rick turned to leave when Gloval stopped him.

"We must plan this properly Captain. If we go after him now, we will be of no help for Lisa and the baby." Henry recoiled from the look of pure rage on Rick's face.

"You seriously expect me to _wait_ while you plan a rescue mission?" He hissed. "Unless you are blind, my wife and daughter are at the hands of a homicidal monster!"

"You think I don't know that?" Henry ground out as Edwards shrank back towards the door, not in fear, but from a notice that his computer had finished it's decryption. "I want them back as much as you! That is my daughter and Granddaughter he has in his filthy hands!"

Rick's face contorted and twisted before he slammed his fist into the wall, screaming in rage and going right through the drywall. He was panting as he pulled his arm clear and leaned against the wall, his body shaking with pent up rage. "I-I'm sorry Admiral."

Henry closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath.

"I understand how you feel captain." Henry remarked, pulling his pipe from his pocket. "Give me six hours. We will get them back! I swear on my own life, we will get them back!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa tried her best to sooth the baby, but Kaylee wasn't calming down. Thank fully, Khyron had allowed her to keep the diaper bag as he was tired of hearing the crying of Kaylee. He warned that if she didn't quiet her, he'd kill them both. Lisa knew he would no matter what the crazed bastard said and tried not to let her own fear affect the baby. Sighing, Lisa grabbed the small blanket from the bag and covered her chest best she could before lifting her shirt on her right breast and was thankful she had already removed her bra early, The hungry child immediately began to feed as one of the guards peered in. "What are you doing Micronian?"

"Feeding my baby." Lisa shot back, turning away from the leering guard.

"Disgusting creatures." The guard sneered. "You are weak. Which is why you will fail."

"And you are all dead once my husband finds you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick kept his eyes fixed straight ahead as Skull Squadron, supported by Vemrilion, the Black Nights, and The Vigilantes soared to the target point. Below them, already in place were the 228th Mechinized, the 18th Armored, and two full MAC-II teams standing ready to bring the thunder. Their Zentradi Allies had brought some muscle as well. Rick could see three destroyers moving in position in space, ready to offer orbital support if it was needed.

 _"Knight, this is Hatchetman. Ready to move once the fireworks start."_

"Copy." His tersely replied, barely restraining himself from going it alone in this fight. Admiral Gloval was right when he said they needed to do this right. Rick clicked his com to the flight leaders.

"All squadrons, listen up." He barked, his anger barely kept in check. "Big K knows we're coming. He'd be a fool not to. Keep your heads on a swivel and your eyes peeled. We get in, rescue the hostages, and get out. We'll let the Big Guys handle anything that's left. And if you see Big K...splattered his brains over the sand."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Micronian forces approaching my lord."

Khyron sneered as he looked to the display. "Time to die Red Devil. Order our forces to attack."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Break!" Rick yelled, rolling low to avoid the sudden flurry of anit aircraft fire that rippled up at him. He grunted, popping two flares and peeled off his attack run, bitterly cursing. The compound was heavily defended by defensive laser turrets, particle guns, and missile batteries. The night sky let up with flashes as Rick banked hard right and shoving hus throttle into the firewall. Skull One screamed over the defense turrets, marking flares dropping from her belly as Rick took high speed passes over the densest parts of the enemy position. His guns were not silent as a missile leapt from the pylon, blowing out a massive section of the wall ahead of him as the gunners tried to bring him down. A low growl met his ears as some trigger happy Zed popped two missiles after him. Skull one banked hard to her left, rolling behind a near by hill that the missiles slammed into, kicking up massive amounts of dirt and rock. "Cerberus and Doberman, targets marked!"

 _"We got them! Sending some love to our friends!"_

Rick rocketed upwards and his 55mm caught a retreating pod in the cockpit, sending it spiriling towards the ground before the reactor went. He was fighting like a man possessed. His radio was alive with the chaos of battle as he spotted a five ship formation and turned Skull One her wing as he came at them head on.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Enemy artillery has commenced attack." Grel reported. "We've begun suffering massive casualties."

Khyron watched with his calculating eyes. The Red Devil was truly laying waste to his forces. It was not time yet to deal the death blow to him, but it was getting close. "Enemy ground forces?"

Grel checked his display before he reported in a grim voice.

"Eight enemy mecha have managed to penetrate through the east wall. Units are moving to engage them."

"Good."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The Lead Tomahawk braced itself as missiles streaked from their shoulder mounted homes, smoke plumes obscuring the view of the pilot before the cleared in time for him to see the impacts. Colonel Mattis grinned as he triggered his 25mm auto cannons, spearing a Zed through his chest. The giant was blown backwards from the burst and Hatchetman twisted at the waste, her flamers tucked into her arms sending out a super heated stream of napalm that discouraged the curious Zeds that had been peeking around the corner. "All Lances, continue to push in. Bugs, can you send a few party favors to the south west? The Zeds are trying to bring their big guns out to play."

 _"Firing a two by four. You're gonna love this!"_

Hatchetman watched as eight separate explosions detonated, shredding the heavy guns the Zeds had been rushing to get in place to greet them. Stomping deeper into the fray, Hatchetman frowned as something seemed...off. "All RDF Units, keep your eyes out. Something doesn't smell right here. And I'm not talking about the burning Zed bodies."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Order our forces to target the devil himself." Khyron smirked as he watched the devil slowly pushed further and further from his target. "How long?"

"Ten minutes sir."

"Perfect."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick snarled in rage another ten ship joined the furbal he was currently battling. They'd managed to push him further and further from the fight, and he now found himself near five miles from the compound. He heard static flare into his com and his eyes darted to the panel, widening as he saw Lisa leaning against the cell wall, Kaylee snuggled into her chest and sleeping. The woman slowly began to let sleep take her as Khyron's voice filled the coms. "You failed to abide by my request Captain. Your penalty is their death."

Rick froze, which was the worst thing he could have done. A shudder ran through Skull One as alarms flared to life. He'd been hit in the right engines and the left was shredded with shrapnel. On muscle memory alone, Rick yanked the ejection handle and felt himself shot away from his now dead bird that spiraled away from him, billowing smoke. A massive burst of static filled his head seat as he shielded his eyes from a blinding white light. His world collapsed as a familiar mushroom cloud greeted his eyes.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hatchetman smashed through the massive metal doors sealing off the building and cautiously made his way inside, two other Tomahawks following and keeping their eyes peeled for any nasty surprises. David couldn't help but feel he was walking into a trap. "Keep your eyes open. This doesn't feel right."

 _"I'll say."_ Thumper muttered over the coms. _"Boss, this isn't right. Something is going to go bad for us in here."_

"We stick to the mission." David ordered, the feeling of dread not leaving him. "We find the Captain and the kid, grab them, and haul ass out of here."

The other flashed their acknowledgment lights once and the three metal beasts marched forward, towards where the heat signatures had been found. David frowned as his thermal didn't pick up anything. "I've got nothing on thermal. Wait...I've got something on here but it ain't human or Zed. Let's take a closer look."

Hatchetman stepped around the bend and his heart dropped through the floor at what he saw. A Trident II warhead was sitting not ten feet from him and he watched as the timer hit 0:02. "Ah shit."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick stumbled forward, tears streaking down his face as watched the cloud rise high into the evening sky. He'd failed. His wife and daughter were dead. He dropped to all fours, weeping in pain and rage as Khyron's words repeated in his mind. Khyron...his rage quickly over shadowed his pain as he screamed to the sky. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Rick never heard another veritech land behind him, nor the rapid beat of some one rushing to him. He did feel his side arm yanked suddenly from his numb hand and his body roughly lifted off the ground. Rick's dead eyes stared into Max's understanding blue ones as the tears continued to fall. "Their gone...I..."

"Rick! It's a trick!" Max spoke rapidly. "Khyron just transmitted a live feed to Control showing Lisa and Kaylee are still alive."

Rick blinked the tears from his eyes. "B-but how? They were there Max! The recon..."

"Was faked! They were never there!"

"Then...where? Where is my family!" Rick demanded hysterically.

Max gave him a grim look. "The Satellite. Khyron figured you'd kill yourself after you thought they'd died. He said he's going to open the cell block to space in two days if we don't hand over the SDF-1."

Rick's eyes hardened and he rose to his feet. "Then the fleet needs to leave now. Do we have a communication channel to the SDF-1?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You fool!" The figure snarled. "You said nothing of using a nuke!"

Khyron just looked at the screen with an amused grin. "And you trusted to easy. I'm sad to say, I thought you'd be smarter than your fellow insects. Don't worry, I will uphold our deal. Once I have the fortress, you will have your world back. Good bye."

The figured slammed his fists in the desk rage filling him. The bastard has sworn that he only wanted to kill Hunter. Hunter. That name brought a rage inside of him. Some snot nosed little punk just waltzs onto the flight deck of the SDF-1 and get his own squadron. His actions have cost the man much in his life. His brother, his wife, and his family. The figure took a calming breath before some satisfaction came to him. At least Hunter would lose his.

"Well now. This is a surprise."

The figure spun around and slowly raised his hands. T.R. Edwards walked into the hidden room, pistol pointed at the being and a dark smirk on his face. "I must admit, I though you were dead."

"Not that the Zeds didn't try." The figure slowly started to moved to the filing cabinet before Edwards eyes flashed.

"Ah ah! Walk back over here." He ordered. "You do as I say, you'll live. For now. But I swear, if your hand so much as touches a piece, I will kill you. Now, I'm going to ask one question. It will decide your fate."

"Oh yeah?" The man's harsh brown eyes narrowed on Edwards. "And If I don't?"

A sharp report from the pistol filled the room as the man's head snapped back, a red circle blossoming in the center of his forehead. Edwards watched dispassionately as the buddy dropped to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cut. "Should have just said 'ask away' Raven."

Moving at a leisurely pace, Edwards plugged in his thumb drive and let the program auto execute. He drummed his fingers on his thigh as he waited. It took ten minutes for everything to download into his drive before he removed it and made his way back outside. He paused as one of his men turned to him. "Orders sir?"

"Toss the beacon in there." He turned to leave before he paused and turned back to his man. "Oh, and send the all call to our forces. Meet at the annex. We've got work to do to salvage this."

Edwards headed off down the street before he heard the man ask what he was going to be doing. Edwards smiled. "I have an important phone call to make."


	19. Chapter 19

Shot down in the prime of Stupidity (Credit for this one goes to JayDog75! It's short but hilarious.)

The fight was fierce. RDF forces were embroiled in a massive air battle over the south pacific as more and more enemy craft joined the battle. Rick was swearing up a storm as he pulled into a climbing turn to shake a pair of fighters from the RoboTech Masters fleet that had folded into high orbit over Earth. All around the globe, the human and Zentradi defenders found themselves getting pushed back, little by little as the massive numbers of air and ground forces began to overrun even the most heavily fortified defense positions with frightening efficiency. The com chatter was likewise just as chaotic as Rick watched one of the few Banshees that wasn't tied up in the fight in orbit go down as she split in half from the severe onslaught, the two halves billowing smoke, fire, and debris as the hit the calm ocean waters below. Rick glanced in his mirror to see twin explosions from the tails and the third to spiril away, trailing flames from it's engines as a familiar red Alpha pulled into position. Rick growled as he hit the com and saw Jack Bakers grinning face. "I told you to stay with Bruiser, Rook."

"Sir, I wasn't about to let you get shot down!"

The com panel next to the one Baker was grinning on pop on showing the scowling face of Rick's beloved wife, Admiral Lisa Hunter-Hayes. She'd changed her name because it became more annoying for both to turn at hearing someone calling out Admiral Hunter at the same time. "Rick, we've lost the Siberian wasteland and they're pushing hard on in Germany."

"Damn." Rick cursed. "What about the fight upstairs?"

"Not good." Lisa grimanced as a bright light illumunated her face, probably from another ship going up in flames. "The Masters are pushing hard to gain orbital supremacy. You know what will happen if they do."

"Yeah, I know. Dolza take two." Rick grunted as he sped off after another enemy fighter. "Rook, form on Brusier. I'll join in a second."

"What?" Baker looked stunned. "Sir, I'm not leaving you behind! First rule, never leave your wingman behind!"

"Rook, you have been given a direct order by a superior officer!" Lisa snapped into the com, her gaze hardening. "You will break off and return to formation with the Black Knights."

"Listen you old sourpurss." Baker spat. "I'm not leaving the Admiral alone in this furball."

The com went silent as Rick palmed his face. The third image snapped on and the fury filled face of Miriya Sterling glared at Baker. "Did you just say what I think you did Rook?"

Baker's blood ran cold as he replayed what he had said and gulped loudly, panic on his face at Miriya's icy stare. "I-it slipped out! I didn't mean it!"

The com snapped off and Rick watched as a darkred Alpha snap rolled from where it was and came screaming in on Rick and Baker. Knowing what was coming, Rick dove and banked hard to get clear as his com kicked on, showing the disbelieving faces of Max and Ben as Baker hit his burners and tried to avoid the now angry Zentradi woman. "Oh boy...Baker is dead."

"Oh yeah." Ben agreed grimly. "Even you have trouble besting her when she's this angry."

The three watched in amazement as Baker dodged the stream of particle gun fire Miriya was flashing at him. The younger pilot faked a left turn before going inverted and dove down. Rick smirked as he watched. "She's toying with him."

Max grinned in response as they watched Miriya swoop down on her prey like an avenging angel and shifted to battloid, slamming into Baker as the poor fool tried to level out. They watcehd as the dark red Alpha slammed it's meta fist in the canopy and the world around them went white. Once the light died down, Rick popped the canopy on the simulator and just shook his head as Miriya was already leaping from her cockpit and storming over to Baker, Lisa already making her way throught the doors, infuriated as the young man looked to the two apporaching women, fear etched on his face.

"Get your ass out of my simulator Baker!" Lisa yelled, eyes filled with fury as Miriya glared harshly at the smiulator. Baker shook his head frantically.

"No! I'm safe in here!"

Rick glanced at Max and Ben as both men stood next to his simulator, smirking as Miriya started toward the overrides. "You think he'd have learned not to pop off at the mouth,"

Ben gave Rick an amused look while Max shook his head. "How long did it take you to figgure that out Skipper? Ten years?"

Rick scowled at his friends as Baker gave a shrill cry when his canopy began to hiss open. "Please don't kill me!"

"Take your punishment like a man Baker!" Miriya growled, dragging him out of the cockpit. Needless to say, he learned to never again pop off over the TacNet.


	20. Chapter 20 Brazen

**A/N: Before some one spouts the word Plagiarism, already passed this by JayDog75 to give a yay or nay on posting it. He graciously allowed me to use Chapter 18 from DBTD to do this. He has given is seal of approval on it and you will notice it follows very closely to his original post. From how he has written Lisa and what we know of her, this I think is a fairly accurate extrapolation! JayDog75, perhaps a collaboration? This oneshot kinda is! If you haven't taken the time to read his work, just what the hell are you doing with your life?! Go over and check it out! Seriously!**

* * *

Brazen Huh?

"Flattery, Captain, will get you everywhere." Rick added with a wink, eliciting a smile from Lisa. It was just then that Rick heard his phone buzzing. He eyed the caller Id and frowned.

"Let me guess, our least favorite pop-tart calling again?"

"Yep. It's about the seventh call today. Lord only knows how many texts I've gotten."

"Ever think about blocking her number?"

"Not yet. I still have to answer something. I got a very important present on my front step this morning."

Lisa scowled. "Define 'interesting'."

"Two front row tickets for her Macross Homecoming show later in the week, with backstage passes."

"Before you even ask, no. You know how much I like her music." She retorted.

"Who says I was going to ask?" The scowl on Lisa's face grew at the comment, but before she could reply with something withering, Rick continued. "Besides, I have no intentions of going. Matter of fact, I just stopped up at the RDF Charities and gave them the tickets and passes. They're gonna work with MacrossOne and auction them off, with the proceeds going to the Star Saver Fund."

The scowl disappeared and was replaced by a smile. "That's a noble thing, Rick."

"Thanks," he then looked at the envelope and took a deep breath. "The tickets weren't the only thing I got." He opened the envelope and pulled out the key and note.

"Seems she's wanting me to meet up. So much so that she sent over a hotel key and a note. I hope you haven't eaten recently when you read that," he stated as he handed the note over to Lisa.

She opened the note and read. She could feel a sense of amusement rise up as she read. _Unbelievable. She's still trying,_ she thought. It was when she hit the end that her expression turned from amusement to anger. _You want to do_ _ **that**_ _to him? Are you serious?_

Rick was trying to gauge her reaction to the note. _Something tells me this is not going over very well,_ he thought as he saw her expression.

Lisa put the note down and looked skyward. _Pretty brazen of you, pop-tart. You really trust Rick a lot in writing that and him not turning it over to the press._ A quick smile came across her face. _Then again, you just gave me some ideas. Not that I haven't thought about some of these._

"Well that was an interesting read. She's got a future working in a certain industry if that singing thing doesn't work out."

"Yeah, I had the same thoughts as well. Needless to say, I won't be accepting her invitation.. I can think of much better things to do."

"So, seeing I handle the executive scheduling, I think you'll have duty that night. Shadowing the bridge staff. I'll be on that night as well," Lisa added with a wink.

"Works for me. Guess I better break the bad news." Rick then swiped at his phone and pulled up one of the messages. Tapping on Reply, he started to type his response:

 _Hey, got your package. Thanks, but I'm actually on duty that night. Can't attend. Sorry!_

He tapped on the Send button. "Well, I expect a reply pretty quickly. I give it about two minutes."

Rick would turn out to be wrong. It was a good fifteen minutes before the reply came. When it did, Rick looked at the message and scowled.

"Get this, I'm apparently a selfish, ungrateful bastard for not going. And..." Rick's eyes went wide. "Whoa. Oh boy, Lisa, she does **not** like you at all."

Lisa put the back of her hand to her forehead and swooned dramatically. "Oh my stars! Miss Macross doesn't like me. What ever shall I do?"

"Well, I think you better read," Rick said while handing over the phone.

Lisa read over the message. Any mirth about her standing with Minmei evaporated as she read on, replaced by a feeling of anger. _Really? Calling me_ _ **that**_ _? You pathetic little bitch!_ She looked up at Rick with murderous intent.

"It'll be a very good idea if I don't cross paths with her for a while."

Rick nodded. "It might be a very good idea if **I** don't cross paths with her after that."

Lisa nodded before a predatory smirk appeared on her face. "I have an idea. Stay still."

"Lisa?" Rick watched her walk around the desk and stopped next to him.

"You have a camera on that, right?"

Rick nodded, understanding where she was going with this. The perks of working with someone for so long. "Group photo?"

"To an extent. Just get it ready." The smirk didn't leave her face. _Call me a brazen slut...I'd love to see your face when you get_ _ **this**_ _picture._

"Side by side?"

Lisa shook her head, smiling sweetly at him. "No fly boy. For this to work, I'll need to be on your lap."

"W-what?" Rick saw her seriousness and sighed. "Oh boy. This is going to get ugly, isn't it."

"Just be quite and enjoy yourself Rick. Not every day a woman sits on your lap," she remarked in amusement. _Well, maybe it will if you actually ask me out._

Despite Rick's thoughts to the contrary, Lisa gently sat on his lap and smiled toward the phone, her cheek pressed against his. "Ready Lisa?"

"Oh yes. She's going to learn there are consequences for her words."

Rick nodded in agreement and tried to ignore how good it felt to have Lisa sitting on his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "On three. One, two..."

Lisa moved just as he said three and sent the picture before he had time to recover.

Minmei was still storming away when her phone vibrated. She pulled the device and glared at the name. "What does he want now?"

She double tapped the screen and opened the message before she let out an anguished cry as she sunk to her knees, the phone dropping but thank fully not breaking.

On the screen was Rick and Captain Hayes, the woman's arms wrapped around Rick's neck and smiling into a kiss while it looked like Rick was cupping her cheek. The text message with it only had three words to it:

 _You lose, bitch._

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 **A/N: Yeah, mostly the same as his chapter, but needed it for the flow to make sense. Anyway, again, pop over and check out his work. Three or four of these oneshots found their inspiration from his story.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Little OC for our two favorite knuckle heads. Between a story I read on here and a tale my buddy told me of how he ended up with his wife, well, here we are. Drop a review please!**

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Oh uh...whoops?

Rick hurriedly opened his door as the rain began to pour down on from the dark sky. He sent on short glare at the clouds before he managed to get the infernal thing to work with him. He stepped aside and shooed Lisa in quickly as lightening flashed in the sky and grumbled. "Well, looks like the weather man was wrong...again."

"Well, it hasn't been easy for them to get a steady climate history since the planet is still recovering from the Rain of Death."

Rick nodded to Lisa, his agreement plain. "You've got a point there."

Moving to the couch, Lisa dropped down a little heavier than she had intended while Rick started rummaging through his shelves. "What are you looking for?"

"Coffee...tea...I don't know. Something to warm us up after that monsoon dumped on us."

 _I could think of_ _ **something**_ _to warm us up,_ Lisa thought before her cheeks flushed and she mentally stomped down on her rather lewd thoughts. _Get a grip Lisa. He's still wrapped up in Minmei._

"Looks like I'm actually out of both. Huh..." Rick scratched his head as he stared at the empty cabinet. "Could have sworn I had _something_ still here."

"Actually Rick, I think I have just the thing."

He looked over to see Lisa holding a small tin in her hands, a smile on her face. He nodded with a grin and shook his head. "Always prepared, huh Captain Hayes?"

Lisa just ducked her head, bashful as Rick accepted the tin and went to work on the tea. Right about now, she was really starting to regret the wine she'd had with Claudia tonight, but it had helped take the edge of her pain.

"It'll be a minute before it's hot. Give me a second to lay out some dry clothes for you."

Lisa looked to him, wide eyed as she shook her head. "Oh, no Rick! You don't have to do that!"

"Yes I do. You're shivering. Since you brought the tea, the least I can do is get you something dry to wear until yours are water free." He grinned at his own little joke and headed to the bedroom.

Lisa closed her eyes to get control of her swirling emotions as she heard drawers opening and closing at random before Rick poked his head out and eyed her curiously before ducking back in the room. The pot gave a shrill whistle as he exited and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, great timing on my part! Go ahead and change into the clothes I laid out. You can toss them in the dryer while we enjoy some peace and quiet."

Lisa nodded, not trusting her voice and made her way into the bedroom, shutting the door with a soft click. She debated for several moments of whether to lock the door or not. Rick wouldn't just barge in and maybe if he saw her in a state of undress...she gave a silent giggle as she thought of luring him in. As funny as his face would be, and her cheeks heated as she thought of what could happen, it wouldn't be fair to him. She decided to leave it unlocked as she did trust him not to peak.

"I wish he would though. It would give me a clue on how he sees me."

Feeling depressed at that thought, she shrugged off her shirt and shimmied out of her pants and eyed the dark gray RDF short sleeved shirt and black sweatpants he had left out for her. She bit her lip as she found herself wondering if she should also strip of her wet bra and panties, which funnily enough, only became a problem once her thoughts went were they were most definitely not appropriate for work. Sighing, she made the choice to toss them in the dryer too and pulled on the shirt and sweats.

The young woman turned to look at herself in the mirror and a goofy smile crossed her face. The shirt was most assuredly too big for her and the sweats had to be tightened to their limit to keep up around her slim waist. Chewing her lip, she quickly tired a knot out of the hem to at least make it fit better and noticed how much better it made her look. She cocked her head to the side and looked at her drenched hair. Maybe a slight change from the normal?

She made her decision and grabbed the long sheets of honey wheat colored hair draping down her back and pulled it into a simple ponytail with a hair tie she kept on her person for when she needed to get elbow deep in work. A quick little turn and she was satisfied with her look as Rick gave a sharp rap on the door. "You okay in there?"

"I'll be out in a minute Rick. Just finishing up." She called.

With one final look, Lisa left the bedroom and spotted him humming as he tired to face her. She felt a rush of pride in herself as Rick was gawking at her, his cheeks flushing. Feeling a bit mischievous, Lisa gave a sly smile as she sent him a bashful look behind long lashes. "It's not polite to stare Commander."

Rick gave a dazed look before he shook his head and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry Lisa. It;s just...wow..."

 _Oh smooth Hunter. You just sound like a moron._ Rick grumbled at himself as he and his guest made their way to the couch.

Lisa folded her legs under her and clutched the warm cup in both her hands, smiling shyly as Rick sat down beside her. Seeming him so flustered from her appearance...maybe Claudia was right and things would finally come to a head.

Rick, meanwhile, was trying to avoid staring at her but couldn't help it. That look, the way the shirt seemed to hang off one of her shoulders just enough for him to realize she wasn't wearing a bra. _Dear God, Roy_ _ **did**_ _manage to corrupt me!_

Lisa gave no outward indication she had caught him stealing glances when Rick thought she wasn't looking, but on the inside she was smugly smiling and doing a victory dance in her head. She found it heartwarmingly adorable how he'd avert his eyes rather quickly when her own emerald orbs darted in his direction. _Take that Pop-Tart! Yoy have to dress like a horrible slutty version of Harley Quinn to even get him to look your way now a days. All I need is an old tee shirt and sweatpants!_

Rick looked up mid sip as he heard the rain pick up and frowned. "Looks like it's only getting worse out there."

"Yes. It does. Walking home tonight won't be fun." Lisa commented, feeling depression seep into her mind as she realized that eventually she would have to leave.

Rick gave a dervish snort before his deadpanned gaze meet her own, his blue eyes flashing in protectiveness that warmed her in a way that Lisa was very familiar with. "Yeah, no. You're not walking in this crap storm."

The thunder boomed, making her jump slightly and her cheeks flushed as Rick smirked.

"You don't like thunderstorms?"

"No. I saw a really horrible one when I was a little girl." She sighed and stared out the window as sheets of rain splattered against the glass. "I saw a three hundred year old oak tree split by a bolt of lightening. I've never liked them since."

"Well don't worry. You'll be here tonight and I'll protect you from the scary thunderstorm." Rick assured her, grinning as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Funny Hunter." She gave him a sour look. "Like you have nothing that your scared of."

Rick blinked and took a thoughtful look as his gaze lingered on hers. The silence built before he spoke. "Actually, the one thing I'm afraid of is losing my friends. Losing anyone I hold close to my heart is the worst thing that could happen to me."

Lisa cocked her head as a plan began to unfurl in her mind, and she really couldn't blame the wine anymore as the buzz was wearing off at this point.

"Anyone in particular?"

"Well, I'm not really sure anymore. Not after New Detroit." He admitted, his eyes falling to his cup. "I thought I had someone that would stand out in front of the others."

Lisa felt her heart sink before she looked away from him.

"I see. Perhaps I should go home despite the rain." She winced as another deep boom sounded from outside.

"No you're not Lisa." Rick told her sternly. "For one, you'll get sick. Two, it's not safe. And three, I'd like for you to stay."

Her head turned slowly as she face him. "Why is that Commander?"

"Well, you've become one of my best friends." He gave a sheepish look as his cheeks flushed again. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you walked out of here and something happened."

"I'm that important to you?"

He nodded his head and sipped his drink.

"Yes, you are. You helped me when I lost Roy and Ben." His tone was gentle as he placed a hand over her's, sending a jolt of electricity through her body at the physical contact. "You've watched out for me over the years and I would be a horrible friend if I didn't return the favor."

Lisa gave him a warm smile and a thanks, but on the inside, gave a depressed sigh. Well, at least he good as admitted Minmei was no longer the front runner in his life so that still gave her hope. She gave a small yawn and Rick spotted it no matter how well she hide it as her eyes lids drooped. "Looks like you're pretty close to crashing out. Why don't you take the bed? I'll have the couch."

"Oh no, I couldn't!" She protested. "You take the bed, I'll take the couch."

"Don't think so Lisa. Bed is yours." He smiled and gently took the cup and helped her to her feet. "Besides, it'd be kind of cool to know a cute girl slept in my bed."

Rick froze as he realized what he had just uttered as Lisa went red to her hair roots and quickly averted her eyes. "Oh boy. I'm sorry Lisa, that came out completely wrong."

 _Just what other way could that even be considered a good way?_ Rick demanded of himself while Lisa's demure look showed that she had perhaps misunderstood what he meant, even if he himself didn't know what he meant. "Look, you just get to bed."

Lisa so wanted to question him on what he had said but he seemed to be incredibly embarrassed and she gave a small nod before she gave him a small kiss on his cheek, feeling him tense and smiled as she spoke. "Well, good night then fly boy. And don't worry. I'm flattered, really."

Rick watched her walk away and could have sworn she gave a bit of an extra sway to her hips. Then proceeded to chew himself out for staring at the Captain's ass as she entered the room. A small little smirk crossed his lips. _But damn if that wasn't a great view. I hope she doesn't decide to check the DVR in there. That would be...awkward._

He made his way to the hall closet and began to pull out a spare pillow and some blankets and set to work making a bed on the couch. He gave a tired sigh and glanced at his watch as he flopped onto it. Eleven Forty-three. He gave a frustrated sigh as his mind began to wander, bringing forth images and thoughts about Lisa, the imagination running wild. _Of course, I can keep those thoughts at bay when she's not around, but with her in the same house, in_ _ **my**_ _bed, I would lose the ability to block them. Damn it! She's my superior Officer! And my friend! No dirty thoughts or dreams about her._

 _But what about those movies you've taken to watching Hunter? You know, the ones based around the SDF-1 and her crew? More specifically the ones about a certain female Captain and her rather dimwitted pilot?_

Rick gave a low growl as even his own mind was betraying him. _Okay, fine. I'm physically attracted to her. Doesn't mean I have to act on that impulse._

 _But you want to._

 _Shut up!_ He cursed at himself. _Just take a deep breath and relax. Deep breath, relax._

Those thoughts went out the window as he heard the TV from the other room that cause him to bolt upright, his face pale as wide eyes turned towards the bedroom door where a soft glow was coming from the cracks. _"Oh Commander...you shouldn't be pulling that out on an active flight deck!"_

Rick felt sick as he rushed to the door, planning to make up some excuse that it was a DVR he'd swapped out a bad one for and never checked the hard drive. He slowly opened the door to see Lisa with eyes glued to the screen, her knees pulled to her chest as a rather good body double for him and for Lisa appeared to be...thoroughly enjoying each others company. Rick's cheeks felt like they were on fire as Lisa slowly looked to him, disbelief on her face as the scene continued. "Rick?"

"Ummm...I can explain?" He lamely stated as he tried to ignore the imagery on screen. "Uh...the cable company had uh forgotten to wipe the hard drive before sending it back out. Haven't checked through what was still saved you know. Just got it three days ago."

"This was rented just last night." She pointed out, her own cheeks red. "I-I didn't realize what it was. The title made it sound like a documentary."

 _Ah damn it. Well, this should be interesting._ He thought to himself as Lisa turned back to the screen after she grabbed the remote and paused it.

"It says you rewatched this particular scene near a dozen times."

He gulped and began to step back from the woman as she remained completely still, looking at the replay history. He was really regretting ever getting a DVR now. "W-well...uhmmm..."

"She is a very good likeness of me." Lisa commented, a sly smile gracing her lips. "Anything you'd like to admit Commander?"

Rick gave a flustered look and ran a hand through his hair, not really Knowing how to explain himself in this situation. They didn't exactly cover it in OCS. But how the hell do you tell your superior officer that you've been a jackass towards her because you've been having sexual fantasies about her for the past few months and the only release you have is a dirty movie based on you and her? He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as Lisa waited to hear what he had to say. She'd decided how to react once he actually spoke.

"Damn it." He gave a defeated sigh and slumped his shoulders. "Look, you know how I've been irritated these past few months?"

"Yes. Kind of hard to miss."

He gave a grimace at her words. He wasn't exactly a subtle guy. "Well, it because...I've started to have...dreams. About you. Us."

"Dreams that play out like that?" She asked, gesturing towards the froze image on the screen.

"Well, some times. Look, I wasn't fully honest with you earlier. There is actually one person in particular I fear losing and it's you. When I went looking for you tonight, well, it was because I care a lot about you."

"More or less than Minmei."

"That's like comparing a match to a star." Rick chuckled, still feeling embarrassed. "She's the match, you're the star. No pun intended."

They both gave a small laugh and Lisa looked right into his eyes, smiling brilliantly. "So, you've been an ass because of sexual frustraions."

"Yeah. Lame, I know." He gave an annoyed look. "You figure I'd be able to deal with that better."

Lisa decided to take her chance and her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she gave a coy smile at Rick, his face turning to shock as she started to crawl to the edge of the bed, seductively. Well then Commander, I believe it is my responsibility to ensure you are working at your best."

He gulped and stepped back, feeling the door against him as Lisa slipped pff the bed and made her way towards him, the predatory gleam in her eyes making it difficult for him to look away. "L-Lisa?"

She placed a single finger over her lips.

"Tonight, we are going to ensure we deal with **both** of our frustrations." She cocked her head to the side, and smirked. "What do you say Rick?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin as she purred his name. "B-But...you don't have to do this."

His voice was barely above a whisper as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rose on the balls of her feet, her lips half an inch from his ear as she spoke, goosebumps flaring to life as her warm breath tickled his ear lobe. "I really want to. Give me tonight Fly boy. You're not the only one who wants to."

"So you do like me." Rick's eyes widened in surprise as Lisa pulled back and gave a nod.

"Yes I do. I have for nearly three years."

"All this time..." His eyes seemed to darken as he looked down to her. "All this time I thought it was just me. Damn am I dense. How can I make it up to you?"

She favored him with a sultry smile. "By doing exactly as I say tonight. So Commander. Think you can rock my world?"

Letting a cocky smirk slip into place, Rick responded with a husky voice.

"Oh I think I know a move or three that'll do the trick."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I have no idea where this one came from. Still...it's an interesting idea. BTW, if anyone wants to take one of these and make a story off of it, give me a PM in advance so I know who to watch for. Just ask before you use an idea of mine alright? Same goes for any kind of side stories or what not from Alight you guys may have.**

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You built a time machine...out of a Veritech?!

Rick woke with a groan to the startled scream of a woman. His vision swam as he fought to even move, every muscle in his body screaming in pain that made him feel as if he were dying. He let out a muffled pained scream as he convulsed for what felt like an eternity. Panting, he shakily rolled onto his hands and knees, his stomach tightening and his head throbbing as if a Zentradi had used him as a tennis ball. He heard the rapid approach of heels but couldn't turn his head to see who it was as his whole body shook. He could smell the smoke and feel the heat from a fire behind him and guessed it was the remains of his wounded Valkyrie. He could remember taking a burst across his back, dozens of alert lights flaring to life in his cockpit before a bright light enveloped him as the Barrier from the SDF-1 overloaded. Had he crashed on impact? Probably which did explain why he felt like some one took a baseball bat to his body. He coughed as he felt a gentle hand land on his shoulder. Fighting off his vertigo, he turned his head, grinning as the blurry form of Lisa Hayes began to solidify in front of him. "Well...any landing you can...walk..."

Rick's voice trailed off as his vision finally focused and his expression became stunned. The woman looking at him with concern mixed with surprise was Lisa, but a much older Lisa than the one he knew. He could see a few new creases on her face and bags under her eyes. But those eyes...the ones he had fallen for, were filled with wonder and suspicion. "Rick...is it...is it really you?"

He heard the hesitation in her soft voice and found himself unable to speak. What had happened here? "Lisa? Are you...well, you?"

He saw her lips twitch as she fought back a smile until Rick heard the cocking of a side arm. Still hurting, he turned to the noise and spotted a grim faced Max, pistol drawn and pointed at him. Rick saw the hope yet clear hostility in Max's eyes. You'd almost think they saw a ghost. "Max...wow...you look old buddy."

"Fourteen years will do that to you." Max still had not lowered his sidearm. "I thought the Invid would be smarter than to use the image of my best friend."

"Invid?" Rick started to stand, but fell back to his knees with a wince as his muscles gave. "What the hell are you talking about? Fourteen years?"

"Admiral...until we can know for sure it's not an Invid trap..." Max glared at Rick and the man was taken aback from the fierce gaze. "I recommend confining him to a secure medical room. Only access to command level staff only."

"Admiral?" Rick repeated before he smiled at a stone faced Lisa. "Always knew you'd go far. Look, I don't know what an Invid is just yet, but if the only way to have Max stop trying to shoot me is submit to the tests, I'm all in. I'm just as confused as everyone else here."

"I'd recommend you remain quiet for now." Max hissed. "If this _is_ and Invid ploy, I will kill you for disgracing the memory of my best friend. Marines, take him to medical."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Doctor Lang looked at Lisa, the sheer astonishment on his face as he handed her his report. "The remains of the craft that appeared and crashed in the hanger are indeed Skull One."

Lisa looked over the reports carefully as her Executive officer, Colonel Max Sterling looked to Lang in disbelief. "How Doctor? We all saw it vaporized when the Barrier overloaded over Ontario fourteen years ago."

"I'm not sure to be completely honest Colonel." Lang gave a shake of his head. "But the test results do not lie. It is Skull One. Down to the micro serial numbers stamped inside her reactor casing. Even you know that can not be faked. It is authentic."

"The question stands though Doctor." Lisa spoke up, her voice calm but her mind a whirlwind. "How did a fighter we all watched get vaporized end up fourteen years into the future. "

Emil meet Lisa's curious gaze and spotted the storm ragging behind her eyes. He truly had no answers for her. "I don't have anything for you Admiral. Maybe something in the earlier barrier system caused it. A rip in the space time continuum perhaps?"

"Alright, say we buy that line." Max leveled his cold eyes on Emil. "How did it end up in the Hanger Bay of the SDF-3 and not over Canada?"

"Again Colonel, despite what you may think, I do not hold the answers to the universe." Emil frowned. "I can only speculate until I can go over the data from the incident, but with the computers on the SDF-1 long since destroyed...we may have only ended up with a mystery we may never solve."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick sat on the bed, the hospital gown not doing much for his dignity as he waited in silence. A frown crossed his face as his blue eyes stared up at the ceiling. Time Travel. If this wasn't some trap set by Dolza, then he had somehow been transported Fourteen years into the future in some freak accident. And considering he saw stars as he was escort to the tender mercy of one Jean Grant, Rick hoped that meant they had managed to beat Dolza. This ship looked to new to be the SDF-1 so he figured they'd built a second one. Gave evidence to a victory. He sighed as the door opened and Doctor Grant walked in, her own eyes showing surprise and joy to see him. At least it wasn't suspicion any more so what ever tests she had conducted showed he was indeed the same Rick Hunter she remembered.

"Well, the test don't lie." She spoke in a reverent tone. "You are who you appear to be."

"A roguishly handsome and extremely talented pilot?" He quipped, falling back on his age old response to her. He hoped it would ease some of this tension in the air.

"More like thick headed moron with a death wish." She retorted, a grin crossing her lips before she gave him a tight hug. "It's good to see you again Rick."

"So far, you're the only one I know that is happy to know I'm back." Rick smirked as Jean composed herself. His smile slowly slipped away as he looked to her seriously. "Jean...what is an Invid? I heard Max mention it before. He wasn't exactly in an answering mood."

Her smile fell and she sighed. "Some one will tell you soon enough, so I guess I can fill in some of the blanks. After you...died, we ended up beating Dolza and his fleet. It was close. A lot closer than anyone would like. The Admiralty sent us out to find those who sent Dolza and the Zentradi after the SDF-1 to make peaceful first contact. We left too late and they attacked Earth. Not long after, maybe a few months or so, we found out Earth had been occupied by the race we've been at war with known as the Invid."

Rick's eyes hardened and he nodded his head in understanding. "So I take it they like to use body doubles? That why Max pointed a loaded gun at my head?"

"No." A voice called from the doorway and a grim faced Max was looking at him. "Admiral always said your thick skull could deflect bullets. I wanted to test that out. I see Jean is brining you up to speed."

"You can say that." Rick drawled as he eyed Max with some aprehension. "You don't have a gun on you this time I hope."

"Standard policy. But don't worry." Max gave a grin for the first time since Rick stumbled from his wreck into the future. "Admiral Hayes would probably shove me through an air lock if I did."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She picked up the medical report with some trepidation. Her anxious eyes scanned over the report, wanting to know one way or another if this was truly him. If it wasn't, she would burn every last world the Invid had to cinders for this blow. But if it really was him. If somehow he;d managed to cheat death once more...she didn't know what she would do. Fourteen years she had been forced to live with out him. Fourteen years she hadn't seen his smile, or heard his voice. Fourteen years she fought hard against the regret she felt for not telling him. She could still remember frantically crying for him to land as he had been too close to outrun the barrier overload. Her mind could still recall in perfect detail, the final few words he spoke before his comline went dead in a flash of static. _"I'm almost there! I lo-"_

The overload had happened just as he was closing on the edge of the hanger. She felt hot tears sting at her eyes as she rubbed them and placed the report down, turning her now tear filled us to the stars passing by her window. The test's proved it. He was the same Rick Hunter.

"What am I going to do?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ben looked to his old lead with a wide smile and gathered him into a bear hug. Rick grained as Ben gave a deep booming laugh. "Even death can't keep you down you old dog!"

Rick gave a weak chuckle as Ben let him down. "Looks who's talking old man."

"I take it you annoyed the devil so much he kicked you out of Hell?" Ben grinned, "And I'm not old. Some of us didn't bypass fourteen years to appear when he'd be needed!"

Rick nodded and his face fell as Max slide next to him with his wife. Shocking to Rick that a Zentradi and a Human had married, but after Max had spun him up on what had been happening since he pulled a Marty McFly, it really wasn't bothering him. Miriya was a very nice person once he got over his shock. "Yeah, Max clued me on on what's been happening. Guess I gotta start calling you sir now huh Max?"

The blue haired man gave a smirk. "Nah. Since we're old friends, I'll let is slide Skipper."

Rick grinned and grabbed a drink, taking a sip as they started talking. That was until Ben let slip something he probably shouldn't have. "And I bet your son is happy to finally have met you."

You could hear a pin drop as Rick froze solid, while Max winced. Ben spotted the look on Rick's face and grimaced. "I uh take it you didn't know."

"No." Rick breathed, his eyes locked on Max as the man sighed. "How?"

"You remember how you liked to joke about leaving a...donation?"

Rick flushed red as Miriya quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. "Donation?"

"It's something the Male pilots would do. Well, those that wanted to have our lines continue if something were to happen before we could find the right woman." Max explained and Ben snickered. "It was optional and no, Miriya, I never did make one. I found you so soon it was a useless idea."

"Good answer." She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"And...who used it?" Rick asked, still shocked. "I only did that on a whim. Never thought it would be needed."

And he had. After he'd seen Minmei with Kyle, he gave up all thoughts of her and him. It hadn't taken him long to realize his heart had belonged to another, and it surprised him to realize it had been her's for awhile. He dearly hoped it was her who used it. And prayed Minmei hadn't caught wind he'd left a sample with the medical wing. Max gave a small smile and opened his mouth to respond.

"It was..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Admiral Hayes." Edwards greated her as he walked arogantly into her office. "I hear a miracle was witnessed on the flight deck this morning. A hero returns from the dead! Very dramatic."

Lisa scowled at Admiral Edwards as the man looked at her with a smirk. "That's classified information Edwards, and you would do well to keep your mouth shut about it."

"Classified only works if half the flight crews hadn't witnessed the return of a long dead pilot." He countered with a smug smirk. "So is it really him?"

Lisa nodded and passed the medical report to him, Edwards eyed it carefully and his lone eye widened. "Well damn. I figured it was another Invid Sleeper agent attempt. This kind of changes everything now."

"It does." Lisa agreed tactfully. "I'd like you to inform the council about this as soon as possible."

Edwards looked to her in surprise. "Not that I don't appreciate your sudden faith in my ability to deal with the council, but the question that springs to mind is why me?"

A sharp rap on her office door brought a smile to her lips. "Because I know of a certain Lieutenant that is probably going to be demanding some answers from me. And if I'm right, he's right outside that door."

Edwards grinned and nodded before he rose to his feet and headed to the door. He paused and glanced at her.

"If you don't mind, I'll just transmit the data we have on this incident to them. It'll be a few days before they respond anyway." He smirked. "Plenty of time for you to think up a way to explain this to them."

Lisa glared as the door slid open and Edwards exited. The visitor that had knocked on her door slipped past him as the Admiral left the room, cool blue eyes locking on to her emerald orbs. She closed her eyes and laced her fingers.

"You heard I take it." It wasn't phrased as a question.

"Yes." He replied simply.

Lisa opened her eyes and pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "Take a seat Rick."

"I'd rather stand Lisa." He spoke calmly. "Why?"

"You sure you want an answer to that question? It could take some time to explain."

"I want to know." He leaned over her decks, hands propping him up as he locked eyes with her. "Please."

She nodded and leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving his. "Fourteen years ago, we thought you had been killed. It destroyed me. I was broken. It wasn't until Claudia had gotten some information from the medical teams a year after we beat Dolza..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _Thirteen years ago..._

Lisa was once more curled on her couch in her quarters, hugging her knees to her chest as tears ran down her face. It was the anniversary of his death. She stared at the last picture the two had taken together. It had been a long year for her and it didn't seem to make the pain any easier to deal with. Claudia had been her own source of comfort as the other woman had dealt with this herself. The problem was, Claudia had been able to love and be loved by Roy. She had been to afraid of rejection to even try. She'd told herself it was a matter of waiting for the right time. And now...now she'd never get the chance. She was broken from her thoughts as a sharp knock was heard. She wiped her eyes and called for the person knocking to enter. She already knew who it was and wasn't surprised to see Claudia entering the room. What was a surprise was seeing the woman's face as her hands shook, an envelope in her hands. "Lisa...I...I just got some interesting news."

"What is it?" She sniffed as her friend dropped numbly beside her.

"You know how Rick had me marked as next of kin on his forms right?" She asked gently.

Seeing Lisa nod, she continued. "Well...I just got this letter from Medical."

"What does it say?" The pained woman asked, looking to the letter in Claudia's shaking hands.

"He left a donation." She whispered to Lisa. "Apparently, Rick had specifically requested than any possible recipients be okayed by me. He...he wanted someone that I'd approve of as he always said he'd never marry anyone Roy and I didn't approve of."

"He...he really left one?" Lisa asked in a small voice, her mind starting to think on a very much wanted thing. One she had hoped one day she could have with Rick. The ebony skinned woman nodded as her eyes landed on Lisa.

"He did." She hesitated before she spoke. "The only person who put a request forward is Minmei. I won't approve that. And...well, we all know how much you loved him."

Lisa's breath caught in her chest before she spoke. "Pop-Tart can go burn in hell. She left him like he was yesterdays garbage. No...not her."

"Lisa...are you sure about this?" Claudia asked, seeing the look behind Lisa's eyes as she placed a hand on her friends shaking shoulder.

"Yes." Determination flared into her core. "Yes, I want to have his baby."

Ten months after Lisa made her intentions clear, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy that became the light of her life. One who was growing into a striking mix of both her and the man she loved.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick looked pale as he dropped into the chair, Lisa smirking as she gave him a knowing look. "I told you to take a seat."

"Yeah well, hearing that Minmei tried..." He gave a shudder before he smiled sadly at her. "I'll be honest with you Lisa. When I uh, did that. I had hoped it would be _you_ that'd make the request."

She gave him a warm smile. "Yes, Claudia showed me the note you wrote in case it was me. I really wish you'd have told me."

"Would it have changed anything?" He asked, eyes dropping to the desk. "Even if I had, and I really did end up dead, things wouldn't have changed much. It litterally wasn't until that morning I came to that realization."

Lisa's eyes studied him as he slumped into the chair. The shock had seemed to have worn off as he looked at the photo on her desk, of her holding a small boy that looked like a good combination of him and Lisa. "Is that...is that him?"

She nodded and passed the photo to him.

"He's turning thirteen this year." A knowing grin tugged at her lips. "He's a lot like you. Reckless, stubborn, and rude at times too. But he's got my brains and manners."

Rick laughed at her statement, his eyes looking at the two smiling People as Lisa looked to be rubbing his unruly hair with a proud smile on her face. The boy really had his grin though. He looked up at her, pain on his face. "I'm...I really wish I could have been there with you through it all Lisa. I'm sorry I wasn't."

She saw the tears in his eyes as he looked back down at the picture, her heart breaking for him. To find all of this out...it was probably a huge blow. She rose from her seat and stepped around her desk and lowered herself to her knees as she took his hand in hers. Rick looked to her, his blue eyes filled with pain and remorse. "Rick...what happened wasn't your fault. And you blessed me with a wonderful son. With our son. And I wouldn't trade him for anything."

He reached out hesitantly, cupping her cheek in his hand. She closed her eyes in a smile and leaned into the touch, a few tears escaping.

"I want to be there from now on." He spoke in determination. "I want us to be together. Like a family."

She opened her eyes slowly, feeling her courage flare and pulled him down to meet her lips. After a few seconds they broke from the tender, gentle kiss, her smile brighter than even a supernova. "Would you like to meet him?"

He nodded as he swallowed hard. "Yes. I do. How will we explain why I've been gone for fourteen years? If he's as much like me as you say, he'll be pretty angry."

Lisa gave small laugh and nodded her head. "That's true but as I said, he's got my brains. He'll understand but I expect him to be very hesitant about the whole situation."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Roy Hunter eyed the man before him suspiciously. The man was rubbing the back of his head in nerves much like Roy did. He also couldn't deny the similarity he saw between himself and the man his mother said was his father. It was surreal. Yet...it made sense with what he'd been told about him. Rick Hunter had been a war hero, one of many like his Uncle Roy, Aunt Claudia, and all the others that had been killed. The man would never have run from a responsibility owed to a child. And from what he could tell, his absence had been unintentional. He had been labeled as dead after all. The boy side and laced his fingers behind his head and gave the man a curious look. "Well, I guess if Mom believes you, I have no room to say otherwise. It weird seeing you in person though. Like looking at an old history book."

Lisa started to laugh and Rick shot her a short glare before shaking his head, Roy looking confused as to why his mother was laughing at what he said. "What's so funny Mom?"

"Sorry. It was like watching a mirror image." She smirked. "First time your father ever saw me, he called me old. I find it funny how karma bit him back for that."

Rick ignored her and looked to his son as the young man looked up at him with his mother's eyes and gave a small smile of his own. "I know you don't know me too well yet Roy. And I'm sorry for that. But...I'd like to get to know you. I'd always wanted to be a father. I know I have a long way to go before I earn the right for you to think of me like that and I'm willing to do what ever I can to prove it."

Roy's eyes became alight as he looked up at the man.

"Does that mean flying?"

"You like to fly?" Rick asked with a proud gleam in his eye.

Behind him, Lisa rolled her eyes, but smiled happily at the banter between father and son. "Yes Rick. He also inherited your love of flying. His Uncle Max and Uncle Ben take him out on occasion."

Rick gave a grin at Roy and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, inwardly please the boy didn't pull away. "Roy, you and I can go flying as soon as I get cleared from medical. After all, it's a Hunter tradition!"


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: The original draft of the Epilogue for Mars, Alight that I have scrapped. It's a good little ending, but lacks what I want for it. So, here you guys go! An alternate take on the epilogue that should be up and posted tomorrow.**

* * *

…And Beyond

The mess hall was alive with the feeling of giddy joy as the young woman stared at her mug of coffee. She knew she should be just as happy as the rest of her comrades, even more so as she had a vested personal interest in the matter. She sighed and clasped the warm mug in her hands, a nostalgic grin on her face as the soothing aroma filled her nose and calming her frayed nerves. Her Dad always said coffee was the gift of the Gods to help the mortal world cope with waking before ten in the morning. She sipped her drink as she heard the fast approaching footsteps and gave a resigned sigh as she spotted her two best friends for as long as she could remember making a bee line for her. She raised a hand in greeting, her dark brown hair swaying as blue eyes sparkled in the light. "Hey ladies. Pull up a chair."

The blonde one smirked and grabbed her coffee mug, sipping the brew as the owner of the mug scowled at her. "Don't mind if I do Queen. Thanks for the coffee."

"Damn it Ice Blonde...that was mine!"

Their third friend shook her head, her green eyes sparkling with laughter as she watched the two as Queen glared at the blonde haired woman across from her. "Now now. No killing. We came looking for you Queen."

"Yeah." Ice Blonde spoke up, looking at her friend with curiosity. "Figured you'd be down on the flight line waiting for the Celebs landing in a few."

The young woman grimaced. "Yeah well, I figured it would be better to meet up with them after the vultures get done questioning them."

"You know your old man will probably tell them to shove off." Ice Blonde remarked, eyeing the cup with ill hidden intent.

"You have a point." The woman smirked at her friend. "And hands off my coffee Sterling. Go get your own."

Commander Dana Sterling placed the back of her hand on her forehead in feigned hurt as her two friends began to laugh. "Oh my wounded heart! On a surname basis is it then Hunter?"

Captain Kaylee Hunter grinned at her Godsister, eyes sparkling in a way that anyone who knew her parents would recognize as a trait she got from her mother. Beside her, Ashley Dixon gave a musical laugh, her long black hair tied in a simple ponytail that bounced with her laughter as Kaylee answered.

"You grab my coffee again and I'll do worse than call you by your last name."

Dana pouted as Kaylee pulled the cup close to her and glanced at Ashley. "Oh laugh it up Bubbles."

Ashley raised her hands as if to ward off an attack, smirking.

"Calm down now Dana. You know Kay has a point."

The three woman shared a grin that was so eerily reminiscent of their fathers, it would send now retired Admiral Gloval running for the nearest bottle of aspirin. As much as the man loved all three of the woman as the granddaughters they were to him, he wanted to pull his hair out at times with how insane they could be. Admiral Fokker liked to remind him just who their fathers were with a smug smirk on his face. Granted, his own little Terrors, Annie and Samantha were no better. The twins may look like their mother both were closer to the Admiral in personality. Dana smirked as she looked back to Kaylee, waiting for her to take a sip before she spoke in a casual tone. "So, heard you had a date last night with a certain blonde haired, blue eyed hunk we all know from engineering."

Dana was not disappointing as Kaylee's face went bright red, the coffee shooting back into the mug and the twenty-five year old woman just stared at her friend. Dana gave a smug grin as Ashley raised a single elegant eyebrow. "You little spy!"

Dana wagged a finger, giving her a wink.

"Not spying when I happen to have just been strolling by."

Kaylee pouted and crossed her arms, muttering threats toward her friend as a familiar dark skinned woman walked toward them, the insignia of a Vice Admiral on her collar. "How did I know I'd find you girls here?"

"Aunt Claudia!" Kaylee smiled at the woman and motioned for her to take a seat. "Please, join us."

"Not this time Kaylee." Claudia smirked at the young woman. "Besides, I brought a few people who wanted to see you three as soon as they could."

"Hey Sparky."

The young woman turned to the sound of a familiar male voice and rose slowly to her feet as the man smiled proudly at her. This was why she wasn't waiting on the flight line. Her eyes filled with tears and she took off at a run. "Dad! Mom!"

Fleet Admiral Rick Hunter caught his oldest child as she leapt at him and grunted from the impact and laughed. "Easy there Sparky! Not as young as I used to be you know!"

Kaylee looked over as she hugged her father tightly and saw the warm loving smile of her mother she missed so much. Sure, she'd seen it in messages and even the occasion camera to camera conversation, but seeing it in person after fifteen years was completely different. She quickly moved to her mother who gave a small laugh, tears of her own falling. "My beautiful baby girl."

Kaylee smiled up at her mother until she caught sight of a person who could have literally been her father's duplicate. She pulled away from her mother and took a short step to stand in front of him his curious emerald green eyes staring into her's. "Glad to finally meet my little brother in person Mitch."

Fourteen year old Mitchel Hunter grinned just like his Dad and gave her a quick hug,

"Yeah, well. Mom let Dad try to drive and we took a wrong turn." He joked while Rick scowled at his kids. "It's great to see you in person too big sister."

To the right of the Hunter Family, Dana was eyeing her sister will ill hidden jealousy as Maia just scowled at her. "So...you're my sister."

"Are you as disappointed as I am?" Maia snarked at Dana. The blonde woman's nostrils flared as her father just shook his head and Miriya watched with a disapproving look. Dana took a calming breath before she smirked.

"With attitude like that..." She paused before her smirk grew even wider. "I think we'll get along just fine."

Max gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh boy. This is going to be interesting."

All Miriya could do was placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder as the two sisters glared at one another. They'd anticipated this. After all, Dana had to live most her life without her parents around where as Maia had know nothing but. Speed bumps would be in the foreseeable future.

"Ashley! My baby!"

"Dad! You're embarrassing me!"

All eyes turned to see Colonel Ben Dixon holding his daughter tightly in his arms while Commander Sarah Dixon just watched and spoke in a deadpanned tone. "And he wonders why I never take him anywhere."

But Kaylee Hunter didn't even pay any attention to the antics of her favorite funny Uncle. No. Her attention was squarely on her family before her. For the first time in fifteen years, her mother and father were home. And Kaylee felt that all the pain and suffering they'd weathered over the years had been truly worth it. A new future was upon them, and she dearly hoped it would be one of peace.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I really have no idea where this came from. I guess watching Pacific Rim and RoboTech back to back does this. Hell, I'll probably have a MechWarrior/Robotech crossover one shot evenyually. Anyway, same as always. Drop a review and hope you enjoy. Oh, and Picture Skull One, but more like a cross between Gypsy Danger and Skull One in Battloid for Skull Basher. More armor, and white painted.**

* * *

Deep Water

(RoboTech/Pacific Rim Corssover: Takes place in a reality the SDF-1 Never crashed on Earth and the Kaiju appeared.)

Rick Hunter looked around the bay with some hesitation. His eyes fell on the massive metal giant before him named Skull Basher with some apprehension mixed with awe. The metal beast was huge, painted white and black with gold trim. She looked mean. He looked to his Co Pilot and frowned again as she looked up at it with curious eyes as the Mark III Jager seemed to hum with power before them. OF all the people he was drift compatible with, it was her. The world sure had a sense of irony as he spotted Marshal Penticost walking towards him. The Tall man had a permanent scowl across his face and Rick could hardly fault him. Despite the excellent team work he and his co pilot had shown over the time at the Academy, they got along as well as a cat did with water most times. Rick stood straighter as the man stepped in front of them and his scowl seemed to waver some. "Welcome to the Anchorage Shatterdome."

"It's a pleasure to be here sir." Commander Lisa Hayes responded for both of them and saluted the Marshall. Rick wanted to roll his eyes but nodded his agreement anyway before he saluted. He really wanted to punch Roy. The man had promised they'd be pilots like the Beckett boys were. Speaking of the brothers, Rick spotted the two making their way through the crowd of techs and other jager jockeys towards them, the youngest one seemed to be looking at them with curiosity. Penticost nodded and returned the salute as he looked over them.

"I've read the reports Gloval sent me about you two, and I am impressed with your simulator runs." He paused and his scowl returned in full force. "But I've also been told of your social problems. That stays out of my dome. You two will act like soldiers if you can't act civil towards each other. I see an issue between you, I will ground you from combat. I see it twice, I send you back to the academy. I will not risk the lives we stand guard over for petty bickering. You are a team and I expect you to act like it. Understood?"

"Yes sir." They answered as one. They could see what he was saying and at times the two did seem to get along great. Rick really didn't know why he and Lisa seemed to become heated enemies at random times. Even the Drift hadn't shed light on why she seemed to get so frustrated with him. The Marshell took one last look before marching off and Rick sighed.

"Well...guess I need to watch my mouth huh?" He grinned to his co-pilot and she just rolled her eyes with a smirk as the Becket brothers deemed it safe to greet them. The youngest, Raliegh, grinned to Rick and extended his hand.

"Welcome to Alaska. Colder than the Marshall's sense of humor." Rick already liked this guy and clasped his hand.

"Thanks for the welcome man. I'm Rick and this is Lisa. We drive that big lug over there."

Raliegh gave a low whistle as he looked over at Skull. "Some beast she is."

Besides the two Yancy greeted Lisa and both were talking over the differences between The Beckett Boy's Jager, Gypsy Danger and Skull Basher. Rick snorted in amusement as Lisa seemed to eye the blue Jager with some doubt as Raliegh smirked. "Looks like Yancy has made a new friend."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Gypsy and Skull. You are ordered to hold the Miracle Mile."

 _"Marshall, there's a civilian boat out there."_

Penticost's eyes hardened as he spoke, though part of him hated having to do this but his duty was clear. "Gypsy, you are guarding the lives of two million people. I will not risk their lives for eight."

In the Conn Pod, Raliegh grimaced as he glanced at his brother. "Man that's cold. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm in your head." Yancey replied deadpanned before smirking his approval. Raliegh grinned as the private channel activated between them and Skull.

 _"We going fishing guys?"_ The amused voice of Rick Hunter cut over the steady hum of Gypsy's systems. While the two pilots for Skull did seem to be at odds some days, the two were a hell of a pair of fighters that had proven themselves twice in direct Combat Drops. Though Raliegh and Yancy were of the opinion the frustrations were from deeply hidden feelings towards each other. Yancy had even remarked they needed to open themselves fully to the drift and that if they did, they'd be an even more deadly and effective team. Lisa had just walked away from him much to his brother's ill hidden amusement. It was fun to rile her up at times. Raliegh tapped the com button. "You know it bud. Let's go be heroes."

The two massive Mark IIIs were moved one at a time into the freezing water of the Bearing sea and off to engage the largest Cat 3 Kaiju yet seen. Marshal Penicost had been hesitant in sending out one jager to combat it and felt it was a better idea to send a second with Gypsy as it had almost been large enough to count as a Cat 4. The two jagers disappeared under the waves as they marched off towards their target. Rick kept his eyes focused forward as Skull pushed through the underwater current, the armored body not even bothered as her headlamps Illuminated the dark sea bed. "You know the Marshal is going to have our ass once he realizes what we are doing."

Rick smirked over at Lisa as she glanced at Rick. "Yeah, well, we always seem to make him mad somehow."

Lisa laughed and conceded his point.

"True. You know, Yancy seems to think we aren't fully opening ourselves to the Drift."

Rick cocked a single eyebrow, keeping his guilt from his face. While it was hard to keep some things out of the Drift, it wasn't impossible. As much as Lisa bugged Rick at times, he'd actually grown to care for her outside of the normal expected levels. No, he would admit only to himself that he did like her. "Really now? Did you remind him to keep his opinions to himself in the normal Hayes manner?"

Lisa knew what Rick was referring to and snorted in humor as a blush flared on her cheeks. It was hard at times to avoid Rick catching onto her feelings toward him at just where her frustrations came from. "You're already in my head so you know how I responded."

Rick laughed as Gypsy beeped on the comm at him. "Ear's burning Yancy?"

 _"So you were talking about me huh?"_ The man's amused tone came back.

"Just a little." Lisa answered with a mirth filled grin as Skull and Gypsy continued on their path. "What's up?"

 _"We're getting close. You guys want to be the Point on this one?"_

"No. We took point last time." Rick stated. "We'll circle around and come from the back. Think you can avoid dying long enough for us to get ready?"

The com closed with laughter and Rick looked to Lisa, grinning. "You ready to do this then?"

"You already know that answer."

"Yeah, but I'd rather hear your voice." His face flushed before he hastily continue. "Say it that is. It's not as fun if all I do is read your mind."

She gave a smirk and a nod before they turned their focus back to the task at hand, her mind filing away the slip of emotions she caught in his mind. Seems things weren't as one sided as she thought.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Knifehead roared as Gypsy turned and set the small boat free from her massive fist and the massive beast charged forward. The mighty Jager swung with all her strength and caught the beast to the side of the face before a follow up punch dunked it's head into the icy sea. She raised her fists and brought them down in a double over head axe strike that dazed the creature. Kifehead roared and moved to spear the Jager with it's horn like protrusion before it was blind sided by a stark white Jager in a powerful shoulder tackle that sent both tumbling to the ocean before Skull manged to recover and ready herself. Raliegh gave a sigh of relief as that stab was aimed at his side of the Jager and it would have been very painful for him if Gypsy lost an arm. "Great Timing Skull."

 _"Any time boys."_ Lisa replied. _"This guy is pretty durable."_

"Yeah, no kidding." Raliegh grumbled as the two PPDC Jagers began to move around the beast that had gotten back to it's feet and let out a feral snarl. "Time for the big guns?"

His brother nodded and readied the Plasma Caster in Gypsy's hands as Skull opened her missile doors in her shoulder mounts and her hands took on a ghostly blue as they were enveloped in a stable plasma bubble. Where as Gypsy could shoot plasma bolts, Skull used her larger strength in her design to slam the superheated fist into the target, dealing devastating kinetic and plasma damage in the process. _"Let's get this bastard."_

Gypsy was the first to fire as the bolt of blue white energy seared from her arm as a barrage of missiles leapt from Skull, impacting after the Plasma blast and the White Jager rushed forward, right arm cocked back and smashed her fist into the bleeding Kaiju's side. It roared in pain as the fist punched through it's tough hide and cauterized the wound, preventing the spread of Kaiju Blue. Knifehead reacted quickly enough to catch the second arm and snarled as it took a swipe at the Conn Pod, leaving three ugly claw marks across the reflective visor, but didn't manage to compromise the hull thankfully. Rick and Lisa both growled as they leveled the second fist into Knifehead's face, both slipping deeper into the Drift as for the first time since they were paired together, they fully opened themselves intinctively to each other. Skull seemed to rumbled with energy as she yanked her left arm back, bringin the Kaiju into another punch that looked like it shatter the eye socket on the left side of it's face. Gypsy moved herself into position, both of her plasma casters glowing a bright blue white. "Skull! Move!"

The white jager ducked under an enraged and half blind swipe and moved clear as Gypsy let both her plasma casters fire. Knifehead took both blasts to the face and was launched backwards by the force where it crashed into the water and sank below the waves. The pilots were breathing heavily as Marshal Penticost's angry voice filled the Conn Pods. _"Just what in the hell are you four doing?!"_

Rick and Lisa winced before they shared a look, Rick's was one of surprise as Lisa smiled at him. "We'll talk after the mission Rick."

He nodded as he heard Raliegh reply and and grimaced as Penticost ordered them heatedly to return to the dome. "Oh boy. This is going to get ugly."

Lisa agreed and Skull and Gypsy turned to head back when the Marshal warned them that Knifehead was still around in the land of the Living. Skull readied her plasma fist once more, looking for the Kaiju that was hiding under the water. "Gypsy, you got a bead on this joker?"

 _"No. Nothing."_

Moments after those words were spoken, the Kaiju emerged with a roar and slammed it's horn into Gypsy's left arm. Skull let out an enraged roar of her own and ignited her boosters in her back, taking to the air and slammed into Knifehead as it managed to rip Gypsy's left arm from her body, the Blue Jager stumbling away as Raliegh gave a cry of pain, Yancy trying to get the plasmacaster ready again while his brother fought through the pain. Skull punched downward, the fist impacted with a dull thud into Knifeheads wounded chest. The creature cried in pain as it's sternum shattered, bone fragments piercing it's organs. With a power push, Skull had it's conn pod slammed hard into a near by iceberg, dazing the pilots as the kaiju took advantage of their distraction and grabbed the jager by her chest armor and slung her hard into the berg. Rick grunted in pain as he fought with the suddenly sluggish Skull. "Lisa! We need to end this!"

He looked over when he heard no answer and saw her lip form only held up my the connections to Skull. She had been knocked unconscious. Feeling the metal load creeping in and knew he'd need to disconnect or suffer the effects of driving a Jager solo. Using his remaining strength, Rick readied the plasma fist once more and punched as hard as he could into the weakened chest of Kinfehead, Skull's arm going in up to the elbow. The monster gave a surprised growl before Skull pulled her arm back and Gypsy grab the dying creature and pulled it away with her remaining arm. This time the body fell to the water, lifeless as Skull's remaining pilot quickly set her in stand by and radioed the Dome. "Control, I need a retrieval for Skull. Lisa's out and I'm feeling the effects of Solo Running here."

 _"Roger. Heavy lifts are on the way. Good job guys. That's another kill for you."_


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Completely random oneshot. I read a few tales close to this one, most notably from StormAske and queenybee (Her's for the ending) and guess it just popped into my head. Dark at first, but ends on a positive note. JayDog, I had to use the Alabama line! It was just too good to not use!**

* * *

Rick looked through the glass, his jaw clenched tightly in anger as his eyes blazed with barely contained fury. How? How could anyone do this to some one as sweet and gentle as her? He looked over her sleeping form, noting the Ivs running from her arm, her swollen and bandaged face seemed to be at peace but Rick knew better. He knew this would scar her forever. She'd always bare the pain and the reminders. His hands were clenched so tightly at his side, his nails were digging bloody furrows in the meat and his body shook. He didn't even turn to the sound of foot steps as someone approached him.

"Hey Skipper." A quiet voice spoke from beside him. "How is she?"

"Alive." He seethed. "Barely."

Max looked to the unmoving form and side before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Claudia called us after you found her."

"Yeah. But I didn't catch the bastard that did this." Rick said furiously. "Why Max? Why would some one do this?"

"There are just sick people in this world Rick." Max replied after a moment of complete silence. "Some say it's a mental illness that makes some one do this kind of thing. Lisa was lucky though. You found her soon enough to save her life."

"Lucky Max?" Rick turned slowly to his wingman. "You call being beaten and raped lucky? Look at her Max! Look! She's going to be dealing with the pain of this for the rest of her life!"

Max, to his credit didn't move from his spot, merely nodded Rick's point before he spoke. "Yes, what did happen was horrible, but you and I both know she wouldn't have been found until it was too late if you hadn't been looking for her."

"It was still close Max." Rick turned his eyes back to her sleeping form. "She was barely alive when I found her. Why didn't she just stay at Claudia's for the night? Why didn't she just wait to talk to me until later?"

"Because what she had to say has been something she's been wanting to say to you for a long time."

Rick didn't look over as he rested the palms of his hand on the window sill as Claudia made her way down the hall. "And it's my fault she was so set on talking to you Rick."

Rick took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No. It's not your fault." He muttered, his rage still boiling but under better control. "I know what she's been trying to say for the last year or so anyway. That she's nuts for a boneheaded fool like me."

Claudia blinked in surprise as she shared a look with an equally surprised Max.

"You knew?" She asked quietly. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was waiting for a good time to." Rick muttered, his eyes never leaving the woman lying in the hospital bed. "I wanted to get myself sorted out, you know, so I could be the guy she deserves. I'd of had to be as senseless as a rock to miss the signs. Once I actually started paying attention."

Claudia looked to her little brother with understanding in her eyes before her own pained gaze turned to her friend. "She's going to need us now more than ever."

No one could speak their agreement, but she knew they did.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa woke with a startled gasp, her still swollen eyes flew up and a scream was on her lips as her mind slammed full force into her waking world with the pain and fear of what had transpired. She thrashed around, trying to move away from her attacker still, her arms flaring in pain as she jared the delicate Ivs that were attached to her. She gave a pained cry, tears falling from her eyes as a gentle hand landed on her shoulder and a voice she heard shortly before she succumbed to the pain her attacker had inflicted upon her brought the crashing realization that it hadn't been a nightmare.

"Lisa! It's okay!" The voice was gentle yet firm. "You're safe! Please, calm down or you'll hurt yourself even more!"

She took a shaky breath and forced her terrified mind to calm itself, her heart beating a painful rhythm in her chest. Her whole body shook as she opened her eyes once more and saw the blurry outline of a very familiar and much loved man. Her voice cracked hoarsely as she spoke, her lips feeling like they were coated in sand. "Rick?"

The image smiled sadly at her. "Yeah. It's me."

"Hurt." She whimpered as her hand found his.

"I know. I know you're in pain right now." He fought hard to keep his own pain and anger in check. "Just relax, okay? Claudia went to go get the doctor.

"Saved me?"

Rick nodded again as the single emerald orb seemed to be awash in pain and fear, her other eye still too swollen to open. "Yes. I went looking for you after Claudia called me."

A lone tear fell from her eyes. "Sorry."

"Hey, no apologies from you over this." Rick's gentle and caring tone seemed to help relax her. "You didn't know this would happen."

"I'm...ruined." She sobbed, her voice painfully ripping from her abused throat and Rick shook his head, a harsh look on his face.

"No. Never." He assured her. "Not even this will make me think any less of you."

Lisa opened her mouth to speak, to correct him as she was most assuriedly ruined, a used item, when her eye saw the Doctor enter and she began to shake in fear, her eye wide. Rick looked back and saw the confused look on the male doctor's face before he realized what had probably caused the sudden distress in his patient. "I'll get one of our female doctors to look over her."

Rick gave a sharp nod before turning back to a trembling Lisa, his thumb rubbing circles along the back of her hand.

"Easy Lisa. It's okay."

She gave a jerky nod as her stare turned back to his.

"Stay?" Her voice was a whisper.

He nodded. "Always."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Henry was furious as he paced the waiting room. He'd find the dead man who had hurt his surrogate daughter in such a disgusting way. And then he'd feed the bastard to one of the Zentradi Malcontents they had in holding. To do what he did to any woman was the most disgusting thing. But to do it to someone he knew...they'd die. The Americans had a saying that Henry found strangely apt and agreed with fully: Mess with me, I'll hurt you. Mess with my family...they'll never find the body. It was one of the few expressions from the old rivals that the Russians found full agreement with. And whoever this cyka was, he would also learn another such expression to be lethally true: Don't Provoke the Russian Bear, least it mauls you. He was broken from his train of thoughts by the rapidly approaching footsteps of Doctor Jean Grant. The woman looked as enraged as Henry did, but was hiding it better. "Doctor."

"Admiral." She returned his terse greeting with her own, lips tight and almost snarling. "She's woken up. From what we can tell, only Commander Hunter can approach her. Any other man is met with an almost paralyzing fear. She also doesn't know who did it."

"DNA?"

"Nothing in the database." She replied tightly. "Which means it's a Zentradi that did this."

"I will be making a few calls at once." Henry's nose flared as his whole body shook. One of the Zentradi they had sheltered in good faith had done the worst act one could visit upon a woman. For that, he would kill them. Damned be the consequences.

"I'll get back to my patient. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I must admit, it was extremely pleasurable to know the Commander would be hurt deeply from this." A gleeful voice spoke to his female companion. "To see his face once her body is found. It was worth taking that form despite how disgusting it was to sully myself."

"Are you sure it was wise? If she lived and recognized you..." The female voice trailed off.

"Oh come now my dear." The man scoffed. "In the state I left her in, it is extremely doubtful she survived such an encounter. If she had...well it will only help to cripple them. From my understanding of the Micronians, such a painful experience can be a useful tool."

The male figure grinned darkly. "If Captain Hayes did survive, I can use her new found pain as an effective weapon."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick walked beside Lisa as she cling to his side as if her were a life preserver, her whole body language screamed how uncomfortable she was in the crowd. It had been near two months since her attack, and the emotional scars were still there. It was taking her full will power not to bolt and hide as they passed the civilians who nodded in greeting. Every time a man would even look at her, she;d recoil into Rick's side and refuse to make eye contact. She truly hoped the counseling sessions she'd start today would help her to get over that. Or to at least help her to function in society again as she used to. While Rick had been a godsend, she still shied away from any male besides those she knew and trusted inexplicably. Others were feared and shunned.

Rick to his credit, gently placed his arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze to show she would be okay. That he wasn't going anywhere. The Admiral was working with Breetai and Exedore to compile a complete DNA record from all Zentradi, allied and Malcontent that had micronized. So far, they hadn't had much luck. Exedore was actually getting frustrated as it should have made a hit within the limited pool. He said he had a possible theory but refused to speculate until he had proof to back up what he called an 'Insane and improbable theory'. Rick hoped they could find the demented son of a bitch so he could put a bullet in his head. Gloval hinted Rick would have to beat him to the punch. He looked to the woman he so desperately wished to confess to but felt it was nowhere near appropriate just yet. Even though Claudia suggested it could help her, he was not budging on his opinion that right now the best thing he could do was stay silent until she was ready for him to tell her how he felt.

The two made it to the clinic and Lisa clamped her hand over Rick's, not letting go off it until the councilor, an older woman came out to greet her and lead the hesitant young woman back to the room. Rick had wanted to go back with them, but he knew that if he was there, Lisa would with hold some details and it would cripple her recovery. Not help it. He sighed and grabbed a nearby magazine, leafing through the pages of one dedicated to Planes and upcoming technology. One article grabbed his attention for near fifteen minutes. It was taking about some designs to replace the current Valkyries they had in the fleet but it was years from coming to fruition. He sighed and tossed the booklet back on the table and closed his eyes in thought before a rather familiar and hated voice broke the silence. "Finally getting that head checked baby killer?"

Rick's eyes snapped open and he glared harshly at Lynn Kyle as the man smirked at him, Minmei looking at Kyle surprised. "Fuck off Kyle. I'm here to support a friend of mine."

"I heard what happened to Captain Hayes." Minmei spoke with a sad tone. "I may not see eye to eye with her, but no one deserves what happened to her. I really do hope she get's better."

Rick gave a thankful nod towards his old crush, his heated gaze never leaving Kyle. The man glanced to the closed door before looking back to Rick, Minmei following the look. "I see. So...she's in there right now?"

"Yes." Rick's icy response warned the man to stay silent. Kyle smirked and crossed his arms over his chest as Rick looked to Minmei. "You here for an appointment?"

"Substance Abuse." She grimaced. "Like most celebrities...I've gone to far in a lot of things. I need help."

"Sorry to hear that Minmei. Truly. Glad to see you're trying to fix that." Rick was honestly happy she ws taking steps to get control of her life again. He'd seen her in New Detroit and it hadn't been pretty. Nor had the empty whiskey bottle she threw at him. She had missed by something in the neighborhood of ten feet short, but still. Kyle sneered at Rick, a jealous flare in his eye as Minmei seemed to blush from Rick's words.

"Don't you already have a woman boy scout?"

Rick caught the jealous tone and felt his anger boiling as he rose to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. "At least the woman I love isn't my cousin. You realize how disgusting it is that you've been nursing a hard on for Minmei?"

Minmei blinked in surprise before a look of pure disgust crossed her face and she glared at Kyle, stepping away from the man that began to seethe.

"It's not a blood relation warmonger!" Kyle hissed. "Besides, she's my third cousin."

"Really?" Rick dryly questioned. "Where are you from again Kyle? Alabama? Didn't realize you liked banjos. Which is your Driver for the upcoming 500?"

Rick figured he had maybe overstepped himself but Kyle really got under his skin. Minmei had to quickly turn away as she fought hard not to laugh at Rick's words which thankfully overrode her disgust in her cousin. Silently, she planned to completely cut him from her life as that was beyond disgusting. Even if there was no direct blood relation between them, he was her family and that was completely unacceptable of him. Her levity was broken as she heard Kyle's retort and her fury roared to new heights. "I hope you get what you deserve just like that whore you so dearly love!"

The room fell into a tense silence as the temperature dropped to a frightening degree. Kyle realized that he may have crossed a line, or more accurately, jumped over the cliff edge into the abyss as Rick began to shake, his face contorted in rage. Rick saw only red as his body tensed. He'd kill him. He'd kill him and mount his head on a pike.

"You Son of a Bitch!" Rick spat and moved forward, but was beaten to the punch by one Lynn Minmei. With an unbridled scream of fury, she slammed her palm into Kyle's gut with all the force she could muster, siad man doubling over in a pained groan before Minmei displayed her own skills at hand to hand with a spin kick to the side of his head, laying the man out. Rick grabbed her arm as she made to go after him further. The angry young woman turned to Rick wondering why he had stopped her. He pointed at the now approaching security guard.

"I heard everything." He spoke in a grim tone. "I'll take him out of here. But if you attack him again Miss Lynn, I will have to escort you from the premises as well."

She gave a tight nod as Rick let go of her arm and the guard managed to get Kyle up and dragged the still groggy man out of the Clinic and told him never to come back in. Rick looked to Minmei and smirked. "Nice hits. I probably would have killed him for what he said."

Minmei gave an unhappy nod.

"He'd have deserved it." She grumbled. "Saying such things about Captain Hayes. She was always so nice to me. To all of us really."

Rick nodded absently as Minmei looked at him with a small smile. "And I know how much you love her. I admit, I was upset when I realized I missed my chance with you two years ago. And I know how much she cares and loves you as well."

Rick rubbed the back of his head, a blush on his cheeks, his anger now gone.

"Was I that obvious?"

Minmei rolled her eyes with a snort. "Only to the living Rick. You've never been subtle. Does she know yet?"

"I haven't said anything yet. I'm just waiting for the right time to tell her."

Minmei gave a disproving stare that made Rick frown, feeling like he was going to get told off. And he was right.

"You really need to tell her you know." Minmei's tone showed she would broker no argument from him on this topic. "You also owe it to yourself."

"But how can I tell her?" Rick asked, feeling a little annoyed Minmei of all people was giving him relationship advice. "I just can't tell her I love her! Not now while she's dealing with what happened. It wouldn't be fair to her."

"It's not fair to me for you to stay silent about it."

Rick narrowed his eyes as Minmei gave a sheepish smile. "You knew she was standing behind me, didn't you?"

"Yup." Said woman chirped. "I saw her come out of the room as the guard dragged Kyle off."

"Clever girl." Rick muttered and slowly turned to face Lisa, who was looking at him in awe. "Um...well...guess you know now huh?"

She gave a small nod and smiled happily at him. "Yes. I do now. And by what Claudia told me, you already know where I stand. We'll talk once I get done here. Maybe...I want you to come back with me this time. Sine the secret is out."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Exedore stared at the results. Breetai narrowed his eyes, anger rolling off of him. Gloval looked ready to smash his computer and then grabbing his side arm to start his hunt. Exedore double checked his results once more and gave a resigned sigh before looking to Gloval as the Russian began to tremble. "The results do not lie. It was Khyron."

"Why did we not find out until now?" Henry managed to choke out, his anger reaching new levels.

"It never crossed my mind to consider him." Exedore replied. "His disgust and hatred of the Micronian form had, in my mind, disqualified him as a possibility."

"Then why did you check all DNA records from both Micronized and regular?"

"You have a saying on your World Admiral. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. When none of the currently Micronized tripped the search, I began expanding the parameters. It was then a match was made." He explained.

"And this means he is using the Matrix as we have thought." Breetai growled.

"And he will die." Henry's eyes flashed as he turned to Breetai. "I know how much the matrix means to us all. But Khyron has bought himself a one way ticket to hell. It is time to enact the contingency."

Breetai nodded his agreement and his face split into a dark grin. "It should be an...illuminating experience for Khyron."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"My lord. Something is happening with the Marrix."

Khyron glanced to his underling in mild annoyance as Azonia limped into the room. "Care to be more specific?"

"It is beeping."

Khyron blinked. "Beeping?"

The Zentradi nodded.

"Yes my lord. It is beeping in a most annoying manner."

Khyron rose to his feet, feeling dread creep into his body. They couldn't have. He made his way quickly and cursed the ignorance of his men. While they were good for what he intended for them, mainly chaos and death, they were, unfortunately, woefully ignorant of most technical aspects. Khyron would admit it did irk him, but one must do with what one had. They were far from braindead but were by no means geniuses. He entered the hanger that housed the Matrix and frowned as he heard the beeping before his eyes widened. It was building to an overload! "Quickly! Shut it down!"

"We can't!" One of the man was furiously tapping away the shutdown sequence to no avail. "Nothing is working!"

Khyron shield his eyes as the room filled with a near blinding blue white light and an ominous humming began to fill the room. A sudden flash of of heat and Khyron felt no more.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lisa groaned as she woke. It was one year after her attack on that cold December night. It had taken a lot of time and effort, but with Rick's help, she'd managed to heal. She'd never be fully healed, but at least now, she could live her life. Well, unless she killed whoever was trying to beat the door in. Grabbing her robe and tying it tightly around her body, the zombie like Lisa shuffled to the front door, bleery eyed. She peered through the peep hole and frowned as she opened it. A rather concerned Claudia greeted her. "Sorry for stopping by so early Lisa, but Max said he wasn't able to get a hold of Rick this morning. He forgot some paper work that needed signed."

Lisa blinked a few times, trying to clear the fog from her mind before she spotted Claudia's wide eyed stare over her shoulder. Following her gaze, Lisa spotted the still tired Rick, rubbing his eyes with his free hand as the other held the bed sheet tightly around his lower body. The man obviously wasn't fully aware of his surroundings. "Who's at the door?"

Lisa smirked and looked back at a stunned Claudia.

"Well, as you can see, Rick is fine." The smirk took on a more perverted tone to it. "I think I tired him out last night."

A startled yelp followed by the slamming of a door indicated Rick had finally woken up enough to see who it was. The dark skinned woman looked to her smugly grinning friend in wonder before a sly smile crossed her face. "Well, based on his reactions, or lack there of, I'd say you did indeed tire him out. I'll tell Max that Rick will be in tomorrow. I have a feeling he will be...indisposed today?"

Lisa's cheeks flushed as she gave a slight nod at Claudia's words. "Yes. I've got a...rigorous training plan in mind for him today."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Sequel for Mars Alight is up. Called Darkness Awaits. This is a small scene I wrote before I got the first chapter even written and it takes place a year or so before the SDF-3 launches. Enjoy!**

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All Good Things... (Teaser for Darkness Awaits)

The room was completely silent as the woman before him gave an incredulous look at him, not sure if she was hearing him correctly. The man glanced to her husband, who seemed to be in deep thought, a look of dislike on his face. The woman was the first to speak, her emerald orbs flashing in anger. "You are serious suggesting we leave our eight year old daughter here on Earth why we go into deep space for who knows how long to track down the RoboTech Masters homeworld? Have you finally lost your mind Fokker?"

Fleet Admiral Roy Fokker sighed as he looked to the angry face of his sister-in-law,

Lisa Hunter. "Lisa, it wasn't an easy decision for us to make."

"It's a hell of a lot easier to make when _your_ family isn't the one being pulled apart." Lisa was not backing down. "Have you talked to the Sterlings or Grants about this yet? I'm sure Miriya and Jean where thrilled when you brought up having Bowie and Dana here instead of out there, with them!"

"You need to calm down, Admiral." Roy growled, hurt she'd act as if it was easy for him to do this. "First off, we're still recovering from the near extinct we just went through a decade ago. Secondly, we don't know how the Masters will react once you make contact with them. Hence why the SDF-3 is being armed to the teeth _and_ leaving with a supporting fleet in case things go south on you out there. And three, if you're still counting, the safety of the next generation of humanity is to be safeguarded, not placed in the line of fire. I'm sorry Lisa, it's how it has to be."

Vice Admiral Lisa Hunter opened her mouth, heated words and a few insults right on the tip of her tongue, when a hand landed on her's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She looked to her husband of almost eight years, Major General Rick Hunter. His sharp blue eyes were locked on those of his brother's.

"Roy is right Lisa." He spoke in a resigned tone of voice. "I hate the idea of leaving her here for what could be a decades long journey, but if this does get violent, I'd rather her be here than out there."

"You can't be serious Rick!"

He looked to his wife and she was able to see the pain in his eyes, and the acceptance that this was the best course of action. "I am. Lisa, I know how ticked you are right now. I'm ready to put my fist through a wall over this. But we have to do this Lisa. For her. For her future. I'm willing to make the sacrifice to ensure that. When Max tired to get me to sit out a fight after Kaylee was born, I told him I'd gladly go up everyday to make sure she has a safe and happy future. If this it what it takes to ensure it, so be it."

The room was quiet as Roy study is brother with inquisitive eyes as Lisa just looked stunned at his words. While Rick could at times show the intelligence he hid behind his goofy nature, when he did, he always had a point in a logically placed argument. He sighed and looked back to Roy. "Alright Roy. Seeing as the decision has been made, we have no choice to follow it. If you'll excuse us, I think we need some time with out daughter. We won't have very long left with her before we have to launch."

As Rick and Lisa rose to their feet, a twin toned siren blared to life and all three flag officers looked to one another in surprise before the base speakers squealed on in static. "Alert! All personnel please report to your action stations! Unknown alien fleet detected defolding in SOL! All pilots, scramble!"

The three moved, Roy running with a slight limp from his wounds suffered years ago. He'd turned down the cloned leg idea Exedore had brought up as it just seemed to weird for him to consider. Especially as Rick had joked it would be younger than Kaylee technically. The Flag Officers entered the control room not long after leaving Roy's office and the Fleet Admiral gave a grimace as his leg flared in brief pain. "What have we got Exedore?"

Exedore had changed over the years, opting for a more Human appearance. But the grim face that turned to him was still the same as it had been. "It appears Admiral, that not all of the Zentradi have been dealt with."

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, wide eyes showing the surprise he felt. "I thought all of the ones left were on their way back to the Masters!"

"We do not know if the ones arriving are from that particular group." Exedrore replied simply. "We have detected a group of ships defoldnig near the orbit of the second primary in this system. I believe it is called Venus."

"So, either it's Dolza's ships doubling back for a revenge attack or the Master's sent out a vanguard to gather information." Lisa gave a frown. "I don't like either option. Can we get any information on them?"

"Nothing yet ma'am." A Commander reported from her position. "Admiral Maistroff has taken his battlegroup to investigate."

"Somethings tells me this isn't going to be a very fun day." Rick muttered his eyes on the screen. His wife and brother nodded their agreement.

And he was right. Today would mark the start of the Crystal War, and Rick Hunter would soon find himself fighting a much tougher enemy than he had before. One determined to complete the mission of their Masters. Only time would tell who the victor would be...


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Kind of a fluffy one shot what if type deal. Again, like with most of these, not sure where it came from. Anyway, enjoy and review. My update rate is fueled by the number of reviews. Less reviews mean slower update rate.**

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Fresh Perspective

He woke, to sounds he recognized as a hospital. Hissing he pain, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear the blurred vision. He guessed he must have been out for quite sometime as his arms felt weak. Come to think of it, his whole body felt weak and sore. Just what happened to him? He heard someone moving near him and turned his eyes to the door to see a blue haired man with glasses grinning at him. He cocked his head to the side as the man walked over to him and crossed his arms, his uniform well fit.

"Good to see you're awake." The voice was filled with humor and relief. "How are you feeling?"

The man paused, trying to think of how to say what was on his mind at present. "I feel like crap and my head is killing me."

The visitor nodded his head in an understanding manner.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when you eject and your head makes contact with a piece of debris." The tone became more relieved than amused. "You have no idea how worried we all were. We thought you had died."

"What happened to me?" The man paused and looked his visitor in the eye, worry on his face. "Better yet, who am I?"

The blue haired man's face went blank as his eyes seemed to almost bugle out of his head.

"You mean..." He paused before his own face began to show worry. "You mean you don't know who you are?"

The bedridden man shook his head, but stopped as quickly as his head gave a pained throb. "No. I don't even know who you are or where this hospital is. All I know is I feel like crap."

The blue haired man slowly sank into the chair beside his bed, wide eyed in shock as the door opened and a tall blonde man and a robust dark haired one entered, both grinning from ear to ear. The blue haried one gave them one look and the blonde man frowned as the robust one looked to the man in the bed. "What's got you looking like someone just sucker punched you Max?"

"Commander..."

"You're name is Max?" The man on the bed looked at him before he gave a small nod. "You look like a Max. Hey, wait, if you know me, what is _my_ name then?"

The Commander looked slowly tot bed ridden man, fear in his eyes as he saw no recognition in those blue eyes. "You...don't remember anything?"

"I think we've already covered that detail Commander Blonde Man." The bed man stated dryly. "I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me just what the hell is going on."

The Commander gripped the chair for support and from what he could see, it alarmed him to see the pain in the man's eyes. "Little Bother...no..."

The man's ears perked up. "So, your my family then?"

The blonde man nodded his head, his mouth dry as Max turned his attention back to the man in the bed. "You're name is...well it's Rick Hunter."

The man seemed surprised and a thoughtful look crossed his face before he shrugged. "Well, it's pretty catchy honestly. So how'd I end up in this bed? Or better question, why'd I lose my memory?"

"You were shot down Lieutenant." The robust man spoke, his own features schooled into concern. "You saved Max here from a fighter hell bent on killing him. Heck, you saved both our lives multiple times in that fight."

"I did?" Rick blinked in surprise before his mind latched onto what they both said, wide eyed as he looked at the three. "I'm a military pilot?"

The blonde man smiled, a proud smile on his face mixed with sadness. "And one of the best. In fact, these two jokers are your wingmen. Max and Ben. You lead your own team."

Rick crossed his arms and closed his eyes, trying to remember anything. "I see. And what is your name big brother?"

"Roy." He swallowed hard. "I'm actually your adoptive brother. You're dad, Pop Hunter, took me in after my Dad was killed in action. Our fathers were best friends and served in the Navy together."

The young man seemed to be deep in thought for several minutes before his eyes opened and he gave them a sad look. "I'm sorry guys. I can't remember anything."

The robust one, Ben he beloved, slammed his fist into his palm, a speculative look crossing his face.

"Hey! They say sounds and stuff can help clear amnesia!" He grinned and walked over to the radio. "This should do it!"

The moment the radio came on, one of the old Rick's favorite Minmei songs came on and Ben grinned as he turned to look at the young man and his face fell. Rick had a grimance on his face and looked at Ben with pained eyes. "Can you turn that off? It sounds like someone is torturing a cat. Besides, why would I like something that sounds like teeny bop?"

Jaws dropped around the room and Rick looked to them in surprise before he scowled.

"Let me guess...I'm either a moron or have a crush on the singer."

Roy shot a look at Ben which he understood to keep his mouth shut. Roy knew how much of a roadblock Minmei was to Rick and how much pain she had caused him over the last several months. Besides, he could see it was only a middle school crush and it was time for Rick to move on. "Yeah. Little of both. So, this is going to be an issue."

Max turned to Roy and gave and of understanding. "With Skipper here having a wiped hard drive, Vermilion is going to be folded into Skull, isn't it?"

"For now." He looked to a curious Rick. "Until we can find out just how bad your memory loss is, we can't test to see how much of your skill you still have. You may have to redo flight school...unless you don't want to fly anymore."

Rick frowned, feeling his gut telling him that was not what he wanted. "If I can, I'd like to fly. Something tells me it was a big part of who I am...well was. It might help jog my memory."

"That's actually pretty possible." Max commented, leaning back in his chair.

Roy opened his mouth to speak before a young woman entered the room, her face sad , carrying a vase filled with fresh flowers. She spotted the gathered group and saw the awed expression on Rick's face along with a faint blush on his cheeks. She froze when she heard his voice. "Why is such a beautiful woman so sad?"

Green eyes widened almost comically as Ben turned away quickly, shoulders shaking as Max just looked at Rick, slack jawed. Roy actually had a cocked eyebrow and a small smirk.

"Well know. You never used to be such a smooth talker old buddy." He chuckled, trying to lighten up the atmosphere in the room, Lisa still staring at Rick in shock as he mind went over what the bedridden Ace had just said. "Guess losing your memory has a few perks to it."

"He...He doesn't remember anything?" She asked, her voice small as she fought hard against the blush that colored her cheeks. Rick gave her an apologetic smile.

"It's true." He admitted, sheepishly. "All I know is my name is Rick and the blonde guy...er...Roy?"

Said Blonde guy nodded his head, mirth dancing in his eyes. "Well, yeah. As I said, Roy told me my name. What's yours?"

She had expected many things when she entered this room. But this...well this was not one of them. "Uh...I'm Lisa. Commander Lisa Hayes."

Rick gave a gentle smile and a short incline of his head in greeting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Commander Hayes." He gave a grin, one that she was very familiar with. "I'm sorry I can't remember you which is surprising to me."

"Why is that?" She was curious as to his answer as he looked at her sheepishly.

"Well, how could anyone forget such a gorgeous woman."

Ben at this point, was biting down on his fist, tears streaming down his face as Max did a double take, not sure he was really hearing this. Roy let out a deep belly laugh and doubled over, much to Lisas irritation and Rick's confusion. He looked back up at her, puzzled. "Is it something I said?"

Roy managed to get his breath back to speak.

"It's just that...the first time you ever saw her, you insulted her!" He cackled and Rick's eyes flew wide open.

"Oh! Oh I'm so sorry if I did commander!" he gave a hasty apology. "I don't remember it, but it's a pretty stupid thing to do!"

Her cheeks were blazing red as she tired to regain her composure and gave a short cough before she spoke. "It's quite alright. It was a long time ago. I came by to see how your were doing and offer my apologies for getting shot down."

"Unless you meant to kill me, you have nothing to apologize for." Rick's voice rang in sincerity that it made it even more difficult for her to do what she came here to do. She was very quickly losing her nerve. "If it was a battle, things can happen. I'm alive and here...for the most part. And I'm sure it'll all come back to me eventually."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick frowned as he looked over the ship. It had been almost two weeks since he woke and he still could not remember anything that had happened before he came to. All he did know now was he had a rather strong dislike of some Minmei Girl. She seemed to be rather full of herself, whining about how hard it was to be a star. Not once after he told her he didn't remember her did she even stop to explain things in a way for him to understand. Nor did she really even pay attention to him. He sighed and went back to looking over the flight manuals and Operations Regulations as he sat in the quiet park, favoring a simple pair of black jeans and a gray RDF tee shirt. The sound of crunching gravely reached his ears. Seeing who it was, he smiled brightly. "Hey! Commander Hayes! Good to see you!"

"Hello Lieutenant." Lisa greeted him pleasantly. After speaking with Claudia, who found the only flirting part hilarious, she'd made the decisions to help Rick try to remember. "Doing some light reading?"

"You could say that." Rick commented with some sarcasm. "All of this is overwhelming to be honest. Aliens, space ships, rescuing a damsel in distress...all very hard to believe."

"Yes, well, your rescue of Miss Minmei was a rather heroic one." She commented, keeping her own thoughts on the matter to herself. "It's not every day you are saved from death by a man in a giant flying robot."

Rick snorted. "Yeah, not was I was referring too. Besides, her excuse for rushing back home to grab her diary...in the middle of a fight because she was afraid someone would read it. I really had poor tastes in women it seems."

Lisa felt her heart flutter as he looked at her with a smile.

"I was actually talking about you." He chuckled. "I just wonder what the hell I was thinking on the TacNat when I said what I did. From how Roy explained it all too me, I was an immature prick. I'm just glad we actually became friends."

"Me too." Lisa found herself agreeing. "Well, once you grew up some.

Rick laughed and gave a nod in agreement.

"Well said." He checked his watch before he smiled at her. "Hey, why don't we grab some dinner?"

She paused, on the inside she was screaming. It was a chance to go out with him! And he was asking! Her heart was jumping for joy as her brain tried to remind her that he still didn't remember anything from before the crash. That this would never happen if he hadn't lost his memory. But she couldn't refute the logic her heart brought forth. _'Then why not make the most of it? For one night, you can have him as yours.'_ She bit her lip and gave a shy nod. "Aright then. Lead the way."

He grinned widely and took her hand in his after placing the books in his bag and the two headed to a nearby Italian Restaurant to spend some time together.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Six month later, Rick was nervously walking into the main briefing room. Hectic didn't quite cover just how off the wall the last six months had been. He wished he could remember his life before he woke up in the hospital room, but he still hadn't found the stimuli that would finally break through and allow him to access his locked away memories. It was frustrating. His friends and his brother had all told him he was mostly the same Rick, only more mature and mostly more level headed. Roy had said it probably was who he had become and would have shown this side of himself with time anyway. His mind went back to the dinner he had with Lisa that night before the storm had hit. He could see the signs from her, and the hesitation over the past few months and knew she cared a great deal about him. And he'd be lying if he said he hadn't started to like her more than a friend should himself. But was it fair to her? After all, he'd woken up as a completely different man than she had known.

"Life is just so much fun." Rick grumbled and pushed the doors open to the briefing room. Unfortunately for him and Lisa, she looked up just as the door had open and walked right into Rick. Whether through divine intervention ot just sheer dumb luck, Rick was in the process of doubling over as she was starting to apologize and their lips connected.

Rick felt a surge of electricity jump through his body, his mind on sheer overload before the fog finally cleared. He could remember everything. And he meant everything. From Roy crashing the trainer into the hanger when he was eight and trying to impress Pop to the more embarrassing moments of his life that no one knew. He slowly pulled back and gave her a warm smile as all eyes in the room were on the pair. She seemed to still be recovering as her eyes opened slowly. "Well...that was a mind awakening experience."

She blinked, still dazed and her cheeks red. "If you say so."

He cocked his head to the side with a grin.

"I don't remember you being so stunned when we kissed in front of Dolza."

Lisa froze at those words and looked right into his eyes. She'd never told him that part of the mission. She knew Ben and Max hadn't said anything. "You...remember?"

He nodded and tucked a strand of her honey wheat colored hair behind her ear.

"Yes. I do." He smiled when he heard Roy let out a whoop of joy. "And I have something I want to talk to you abut later. About...well it's personal."

She chewed on her bottom lip and nodded shyly before she gave him a hug.

"I'm glad your back now Rick. We'll talk after work."

He nodded and let her go from his arms, watching as she hurried from the room as she wiped her eyes. He turned his head and spotted Gloval smirking as Sammie passed a crisp bill to him. The pilot raised an eyebrow. "You win a bet sir?"

Gloval gave him a smug smirk.

"Nothing for you to worry about. It is good to see you finally remember everything."

"I'll say!" Roy chuckled as he clasped Rick on the shoulder. "If I'd have known the trigger was for you and Lisa to kiss, I'd have locked you guys in a room months ago!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick cupped his tea mug in his hands, feeling the warmth from the liquid warms him. His eyes were locked on Lisa's and he gave a small sigh. "Well, I guess I'll start this then."

She nodded for him to take the lead and didn't dare speak. At least, not until she knew what he was going to say.

"First, thank you for being there for me Lisa, even when I couldn't remember anything." He winced as he remember his apology in the hospital room. "And I really am sorry for popping off on the TacNet. I was a dumb, cocky teenager that never could watch his mouth."

"Some times you still slip." She teased, Rick smirked.

"Valid point." He took a sip from his cup and looked to her. "I know I've been a big pain in the ass and missing some pretty obvious signals from you."

Her face flushed red as she began to sputter. "S-Signals? Don't be silly Rick."

"Exhibit A." He chuckled. "Look, I know you like me Lisa. I can see it."

She seemed to shrink into herself and refused to make eye contact. "So I guess this is the part where you tell me that we'll only ever be friends."

Rick looked at her thoughtfully, though she didn't notice as her eyes were locked firmly on the cup in her hands. He thought back over the last six months, a time when he wasn't blinded by his crush on Minmei. Those six months had shown him how much of a kind and gentle person the woman in front of him was. Rick found himself smirking as he replied. "Well, I suppose that's partially correct. I mean, I'd prefer a woman I date was my friend and partner in crime."

She looked up so fast, he was afraid her head would pop off. Wide, hopeful green eyes met confident blue ones. "Y-you mean...?"

"I wasn't lying when I said Minmei sounded like someone was torturing a cat. Besides, she wasn't there for me once in the whole six months." He gave her a knowing look. "You were though. And I finally was able to see through a fresh perspective just what kind of woman you are. What do you say? Give it a shot? Give me a chance?"

Her mind was a blur as half formed thoughts flared into existence before she made a decision. Determined, she placed her cup down and rose to her feet, Rick watching as she stepped before him and placed his own cup down. Deliberately, she leaned down and smiled demurely. "You have no idea how long I waited for you to ask me that."


	28. Chapter 28

Knock Knock (Another one inspired by JayDog75. If you don't get it, look at Chapter 21 of his tale. It's buried in the there.)

Rick looked up, brow furrowed as he heard a knocking sound. Beside him, Max was also looking up in confusion. Rick looked to his friend with a raised eyebrow, "So you heard that too."

Max nodded as he turned in his chair to look towards the door.

"Yeah. You expecting anyone Skipper?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Captain Hayes is dealing with the fall out from New Detroit." Rick looked to the door with a curious eye before he looked back at his paperwork. "Anyway, looks like Baker and his squad are coming along fine. And-"

The knocking happened again and Rick looked up with a scowl before rising to his feet, Max favoring an amused expression. The young Commander made his way to the door and opened it. Confused, he poked his head out and didn't see anybody. Closing the door, Rick shook his head before turning to walk back to the desk when the door was once more knocked on. Glaring, Rick spun around and yanked it open, stepping into the hall, scanning for whatever moron was trying to play ding-dong ditch with him. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Few boxes from the delivery earlier today though one looked like it had been put on the ground upside down. He gave one last look before going back into his office and shutting the door. Max gave him a questioning look.

"No one out there." Rick muttered and headed to his desk before stopping at the sound of another knock. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Max, we are going to find whoever is being childish."

"Already found him Skipper." Max smirked as he rose to his feet. "Name of Rick Hunter."

"Ha ha." Rick dryly retorted. "At least I know Miriya didn't marry you for your sense of humor."

Max placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "You wound me Skipper! I'll have you know I'm hilarious."

Rick snorted as he pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway.

"Keep telling yourself that long enough and I'm sure someone will agree with you." He looked around before beckoning Max to follow him. "Come on. They can't be too far."

The two Officers started down the hallway, peeking into the open rooms that were still not in use. They'd made it maybe ten feet down the hall before the heard another knock, this time from behind them. Rick went pale and slowly turned around, Max's eyes were wide as he followed the motion. They saw nothing behind them. "Okay...is it possible this place is haunted?"

"You think ghosts are screwing with us?" Rick asked in a small voice before he gave a thoughtful look. "Though I wouldn't put it past Roy to haunt me just for kicks."

"Skipper, what do you say we just call it a night?" Max suggested nervously. "We've already gotten most of the paperwork done."

Rick gave a fervent nod. "Yeah. Yeah that sounds like a plan."

His face fell as he realized something.

"My keys are in the office." He glanced at Max. "Let's go grab them and get out of here."

The blue haired man nodded and the walked briskly back to the office, leaving the door wide open and Rick reached for his keys when they heard a knock again in the hallway.

"Oh no you don't Casper." He growled, grabbing his keys and looking at Max who was looking to the open door fearfully. "Let's run Max!"

The two bolted from the office and sprinted down the hall, hearing the knocking getting louder behind them. Max started to look but Rick stopped him. "Don't! That's what it wants us to do! Just keep running!"

The men left quickly, not even looking back. IN the hallway, the upside down box lifted and the form of a green haired and smirking woman appeared, video camera in her hand. She tapped the stop button and the device informed her the last fifteen minutes had been save successfully. "Captain Hayes should thoroughly enjoy this. Perhaps I should than Maximilian for introducing me to that Metal Gear game he favors so much."

Miriya Sterling smiled to herself as she tucked the device back into her pocket and hummed a happy tune, waving at the confused Night Guard who was still staring out of the door. "Ma'am. Any idea whi Commander Hunter and Commander Sterling were running like a demon was after them?"

"I have no idea. I shall find out." She smirked. "You have a wonderful evening Sergeant."


	29. Chapter 29

Welcome Home...

The man woke to a sudden violent lurch that tossed him from the crudely made bed. If one could call what amounted to a sock stuffed into a small metal container a bed. Bleary eyed, he looked to the other occupant in the room. "What's going on Toreal?"

The giant looked down to him, his own curiosity clear in the dim light.

"I do not know."

The man stretched as the deck beneath them rumbled once more and groaned from the dull pains that seemed to never leave his withered frame. Scratching at his thick beard, the man looked towards the door with dull blue eyes. "Sounds like we're fighting again."

Toreal nodded, his own scarred face looking down to the small human.

"Perhaps a rescue?"

"For you perhaps." The man sighed and ran a hand through his long hair that had streaks of gray in it. "We both know the odds of my people finding this particular ship are nil."

"You shouldn't lose hope my friend." The giant cautioned. "Your kind are resourceful."

The man sighed, his dead eyes turning to the dark blue ones of his long time cell mate and friend. "Toreal, we both know the odds of my people having survived Dolza's fleet are exactly zero. I'm probably the last of my race alive in the universe."

"Perhaps you are correct." The bald giant rumbled. "And if that is true, if just you remain and Dolza has indeed perished as is rumored, then you have won. If a single warrior remains at the end of the battle, he has secured victory for his people."

The ship lurched once more before the sounds of weapons fire reached their ears through the thick metal door before them. The thud of massive foot steps caught the man's attention. "Well Toreal, sounds like it's your rescue. Do me a favor and make sure your rescuer doesn't step on me, alright?"

The being grinned down at his friend as the massive metal door was ripped clear, exposing the cell occupants to the intense bright light. The man raised a hand, clenching his eyes shut as the light sent a wave of pain through his head. He slowly opened his eyes to get a better look at the being in the door way. Frowning, he could make out a slightly familiar form, but it looked slimmer than he remembered. "Who are you?"

The voice he had not heard in near ten years filled the room, making him blink in surprise. "Long time no see, huh Skipper?"

"Max?" The man's voice was hoarse as he took a tentative step towards the metal giant before him. "How?"

"I'll explain later Skipper. I've already contacted the Admiral and a medical team is on the way." Max looked over to the giant eyeing him with a curious look. "Not gonna hurt you big guy. Promise."

"If he trust you, than I too shall place my faith in you human." The giant smiled gently. "It is good to see your race has survived."

"Making new friends, huh Rick?" Max joked, wiping his eyes at the sight of his long lost friend. The bearded man didn't smile or show any kind of relief.

"How did you find us Max?"

"The Admiral wants to explain that in person. Trust me, this is real Skipper."

Rick snorted and crossed his arms over the shredded garb he had worn for the better part of ten years. "Alright. Fine. It had better be a damn good story."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick exited from the shuttle, on shaky legs as the sights and sounds of the bay reached his ears. The moment he exited from the hatch, the roar of cheers and applause filled the air. The man paused, looking around the room, spotting a few he recognized, though much older now. He tried to find Admiral Gloval in the crowd as he was the only Admiral he was aware of. That was, until his eyes landed on a very familiar woman that had been in his dreams constantly over the years. He rose to his full height, fighting hard not to let his past injuries show and brought his hand up in a trembling salute as she stopped in front of him, a whirl wind of emotions blazing in her eyes. His voice was rough as he opened his mouth to speak. "Permission to come aboard Admiral."

"Permission granted." She returned the salute before pulling him into a teary hug. "Welcome home Rick."

He closed his eyes, a tear escaping as he felt the warmth of her touch.

"It's good to be home Lisa." His voice was barely above a whisper as his body shook.

She pulled back and wiped her eyes before smiling at him.

"Well, let's get you to medical and checked out before anything else."

Rick gave a small smile that was hard to see behind the beard and long hair before his eyes closed and his fell to the ground unconscious.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa waited as patiently as she could in the observation room for the last ten hours. It had been nerve wracking as a man long missing was finally found. She and the others had fought hard to keep his status one of missing rather than killed. Next to her, Roy Fokker had his face buried in his hands while his wife placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Rick's disappearance had affected Roy in such a way that the man hadn't been the same since his brother went missing. He'd become much more vicious and determined in battle and that had saved his life over the Pacific ten years ago. In fact, it had affected every one. Max had lost the joking tone he normally had before battle and Ben had turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees over the years becoming a tough and deadly fighter pilot.

Lisa herself had become cold and standoffish to all but her closest friends. She'd refused to go on any blind dates Claudia and the others had tried to set up over the years and had never once wavered from her belief that Rick was alive. For years, she'd dreamed of this day. The day they'd finally bring him home. And this time, she would not let her nerve leave her. She'd beaten herself up over the years for not telling him those three little words, words that she had never had the courage to say to him. Now, now she would and the consequences be damned.

The silence was broken as Doctor Jean Grant exited the room, a small smile on his face.

"He's alive. Considering what he went through, it's a miracle."

Roy looked right at his sister-in-law. "How...how bad?"

"It's wasn't pretty." Her smile dropped as she sighed. Roy was still labeled on Rick's forms as next of kin so he had the right to know. "Two broken fingers on his right hand, a poorly corrected shoulder we reset. He's suffering from pneumonia and a staph infection in his left leg, but the antibiotics are working their magic so he'll be fine there."

She paused and lowered her gaze. "One of his kidneys had failed and the other was showing severe damage. We had to clone him two new ones. There was some internal bleeding. And he has a UTI. It looks like he was tortured on an almost daily basis up until a year ago. And with the malnutrition...honestly, I'm not sure how he survived this long."

"But he'll be okay, right?" Claudia asked.

"Yes. We were able to correct most if not all of the injuries he suffered." A sad smile crossed her face. "He's still stubborn as he was though and he wants to speak with all of you. Even though I cautioned him against it. Keep it short as he's still pretty weak."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick stared at the ceiling, luxuriating in the feel of warm, clean sheets. He smiled softly as if this was a dream, let him never wake up. He was broken from his thoughts as he heard the door to the room slid open and a smile crossed his lips. Roy blinked before a warm smile graced his older face.

"Well damn Rick! Thought I was looking at Pop!"

Rick gave a snort, but he could see how close his brother was to breaking down. "Look whose talking Old man."

Roy made his way over to Rick's bed and gripped the man's uninjured shoulder, a few tears falling from his eyes. "Rick..."

"Get it over with you old sap." His own voice was chocked with emotions as he pulled Roy into a one armed hug with his good arm, both men breaking down. "I'm sorry Roy."

"No, Little Bro." Roy choked out. "You did nothing wrong. I've always been proud of you and what you did that day."

"I got captured." Rick's hot tears were wetting his beard.

"You did it to ensure Lisa and the others made it back." Roy stated as he pulled away from his brother. "You sacrificed yourself to get them home."

The brothers smiled tearily at each other as Claudia took her place besides Roy, wiping her own eyes as she smiled softly at her Brother-in-law. "It's good to see you're home Rick."

"The feeling is mutual." His blue eyes spotted a flash of gold and he gave her a warm smile. "I see you and Roy finally made it official. Do I have any little hell raisers to call my nieces or nephews?"

"You have two." Lisa spoke up from the door way, wiping her own eyes. "The Twins are truly little hell raisers."

Roy gave a grin as he wiped his eyes. "Their both nine and spitting images of Claudia."

"But with Roy's rambunctious personality." The woman quipped.

Rick smiled as he turned his gaze to Lisa. The woman seemed conflicted, but Rick wasn't anymore. Ten years of captivity can allow one to gain a fresh perspective on things and allow them to figure out who and what is the most important thing to them. He gave her a tired grin. "You look great Lisa. And an Admiral now."

She nodded and felt her cheeks flush at his statement.

"Thank you." Was all she could manage as Claudia gave her a pointed look.

Rick, however, spoke up before Claudia could silently demand Lisa tell Rick. "Hey, not that I'm not thrilled to see you two, could you give me a minute alone with Lisa?"

The two looked at one another before they nodded. Roy clasped Rick's shoulder one more time and gave him a proud smile. "Alright Rick. We'll be back as soon as Jean says we can. It's damn good to have you back with us."

"Thanks Roy."

The two left the room, but not before Claudia gave Lisa's shoulder a slight squeeze. The room fell into silence as the Admiral settled her gaze on the bearded man before her. Despite the five year age gap between them, Rick looked to be pushing forty, not thirty like he should have been. Though, she figured once the beard was gone he'd look closer to his actual age.

"Why don't you take a seat over here Lisa." He grinned tiredly and patted the edge of the bed. "Plenty of room here."

She smiled and raised a single eyebrow. "Trying to get me in bed Hunter?"

He laughed, truly, for the first time in a decade.

"I don't think Jean will like me doing that kind of activity in my condition." He motioned for her to sit. "Come on. I've got a few things to say before I fall back asleep."

The Admiral took him up on his offer and sat on the edge of his bed, hands clasped in her lap as she looked down at him. Rick seemed to be trying to figure out how to start and locked his blue eyes on her green ones. "You know...the whole time I was on that ship, no matter how many times they beat me or tortured me, I never broke. Never."

"We know you didn't Rick." She assured him, gently. "And if we'd have known which ship at the time, we'd have gotten to you sooner."

"I know." He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as best he could. "I know you would have. In fact, the only thing that kept me sane was...well it was thinking about you."

Her cheeks flushed again as her eyes went wide. "Me? You used to tell me I drove you _insane_."

"Well, yeah, but I caused that myself." He chuckled before a pained wince crossed his face. "Point is, I had more than enough time to think about my life and the choices I made as a foolish young man. The most glaring was even chasing after Minmei."

"What do you mean?" Lisa asked, her voice soft. "You loved her right?"

He gave a sardonic smile. "I kept using the word, but at the time, it didn't mean what I thought it did. Crush would have been more apt. Besides, it wasn't her that comforted me in my dreams when I could actually get some sleep. It was you."

Lisa so wanted to pursue this conversation but saw him try in vain to stifle a yawn. She smiled down at him.

"You get some rest mister." She gently ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "We'll talk more once you're better."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

It was two weeks before Rick could even walk on his own to even use the bathroom. Now, he stood before the mirror, eyeing his fresh shaven face. He'd gained a few more scars, most notable was the one that was a perfectly straight line that started just above his left eyebrow and ended about two inches below the eye. One he hadn't even realized he had was a three inch jagged line that went from his mid right check and ended just under his jaw. His hair, now trimmed, had a few streaks of gray along the sides of his head. All in all, Rick looked like he was in his early forties. Sighing, he turned away from his reflection and grabbed the officer jacket that was draped over the chair in the small hospital room which he would thankfully be leaving today. He eyed the rank insignia on the collar and ran his thumb over it.

Roy had explained that Fleet Admiral Gloval had given him a two rank promotion one year after he had been captured, making him a Captain now. He pulled it on and quickly secured the jacket around his still malnourished frame with a small scowl. Jean had told him it would be awhile before he was fully back to one hundred percent. He was thankful he had for the most part, kept his strength up to an acceptable level. His gaze snapped to the door as a sharp rap sounded in the room.

"Come in."

The door opened and Max Sterling stepped into the room. Rick had been informed early on that Max had settled down with a former Zentradi Ace and now had two little girls, one back on Earth in the care of her godfathers and a two year old currently on the ship. "Hey Skipper. You look a lot better."

"Well you know what they say Max, a man is like a fine wine. We get better as we age." He joked while he rubbed his beard free chin. Max just chuckled and gave a short nod.

"You ready to go to your welcome home?" He asked. It had been Gloval's idea actually for Rick to present himself before the council for an official welcome back from the brass. Rick didn't like the idea too much, but decided he'd need to speak with them eventually. As is, a lot of the information he and Toreal had given had been of a huge help to Earth and her Allies.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The two men exited the room and began the trip to the main briefing room, which was thankfully not to far from the main infirmary. Rick gave a polite nod as he passed the crew members that were giving him double takes. Some of the younger woman gave him shy smiles and blushes as he passed, his more mature look coupled with the two scars seemed to draw a moth to flame. He seemed to have a primal sort of draw, the look of a hardened warrior. He really didn't pay it any mind as they passed one or two male crew members who gave him an appreciative look. Max noticed all of this and just grinned. "Well looks like you have some admirers now Skipper."

Rick smirked at Max.

"It's the grays Max. Can't help I can pull off the old man look."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa waited in the council room as Rick and Max entered. Turning around, she had to fight down the heat in her cheeks as a warmth began to spread through her body. Rick had always been a handsome man, even when he was annoying the hell out of her, but seeing him now...this more edgy look to him, the pronounced scars on his face...it made her weak in the knees. He looked more rugged and she found herself liking the look very, very much. The man spotted her and gave a grin with a wave. "Afternoon Admiral. You look lovely today."

She gave a shy smile, mentally screaming at herself to act like the confident woman she was and not a giddy school girl eyeing some attractive man in a magazine.

"You look pretty dashing yourself Rick." She replied. "I'm betting you'll turn plenty of heads."

Lieutenant Sue Graham was eyeing Rick and gave a nod of her own. "Definitely will turn heads Captain."

Lisa sent one short look at Sue that Rick completely missed as his attention was on Roy as the two spoke, but Max saw it and covered his mouth as his shoulders started to shake with laughter. The look conveyed a simple message: Back off, he's mine!

The levity was broken as the main display activated and the image of a much older Fleet Admiral Henry Gloval appeared on screen, the hair on his head having gone gray many years before and his once dark mustache was now streaked with silver. He smiled fondly at the people in the room and his eyes landed on one particular man. "Captain Hunter. It is good to see you again."

Rick stood a little straighter.

"Likewise Admiral." He replied with a smile of his own. "I was told that you fought to keep my status as MIA over KIA as the council wanted to have done. For that sir, I thank you."

Henry gave a dismissive wave if his hand. "It was the least we could do. We had heard rumors for some time you were alive and on one of the last few loyalist vessels. It was a lucky break the SDF-3 stumbled upon the ship that held you. In fact, Supreme Commander Breetai has been sending ships out for years to track down the loyalists in hopes of finding you."

"Please pass on my deepest gratitude to him. I really appreciate it."

"It is of no trouble." A second, deeper voice sounded in the room.

Rick turned and spotted a rather tall and imposing man walking over to him. Rick titled his head in curiosity as the man stopped before him and placed his closed fist over his chest. "It was demanded by our honor to assist our allies in their search Captain Hunter."

Rick hesitated before he extended his hand in friendship.

"Still, you have my thanks Supreme Commander."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick stared at the bulkhead with tired eyes. He was having trouble sleeping as he had over the last few years. Nightmares that replayed every second of the torture and his own isolation from his people. He sighed and pushed the cup of tea in his hands around before he turned his eyes to the rest of the room. Admiral Hayes had been more than willing to have Rick stay as a guest during his healing process. And he had been extremely grateful to her. But something that was annoying him besides the nightmares, was that every time he tried to talk to her about his own self discovery, something always seemed to come up. The first day back, it had been his own fatigue. Then, she hadn't been able to come down and see him except very briefly between jumps. And just the other day, she had to deal with a missing science team that had gone out to to study a supernova remnant. Turns out the poor bastards had been cooked by a radiation flare. Bad way to go.

"Rick? Why are you up this early?"

He turned his eyes towards the sound and smiled warmly. Lisa was standing in the door way, rubbing her eyes clad in her sleepwear which consisted of a pair of old gray sweet pants and a rather familiar faded KISS tee shirt. He had an idea of where she had gotten that and it only reinforced what he felt he knew. He wasn't complaining as she looked good in it. Roy had once compared a woman wearing a man's shirt to planting a flag in conquest over a castle.

"Trouble sleeping." He stated simply. "Sorry if I woke you up."

She gave a tired smile. "I always get up at four. Habit I've had for a long time."

"I bet." He laughed before grabbing a cup from his spot and rose to his feet. "Tea?"

She nodded. "Please. Nothing against coffee in the morning, but tea gets me going quicker."

He grabbed the still hot brew and poured a cup for her as the Admiral took her seat next to Rick's. She muttered a thanks as he handed her the cup and inhaled the aroma before sighing. He watched her as she sipped her drink and gave a smile.

"Shirt looks very familiar."

Her cheeks flushed red as she turned her eyes away from him. She started to open her mouth to make up some kind of excuse as to why she had one of his shirts but he beat her to the punch. "It looks really good on you."

"I uh..." She started lamely before she finally answered in a small voice. "I've always liked them."

Rick smirked at how suddenly bashful the Fearless Admiral Lisa Hayes had become and found it very endearing. "Well that's another point in your favor."

She looked up and blinked in confusion.

"Point in my favor?" She repeated. "What are you talking about?"

Rick leaned back in his chair, small grin playing across his face as his eyes seemed to come alive. Normally, they were dull and lifeless, but since he'd started staying with her, life seemed to return to them. "We never did get a chance to finish our talk. I guess now sounds like a good time. Do you agree?"

She found herself nodding her own consent and Rick laced his hands together behind his head as his eyes showed warmth in them.

"Well, as I told you that first day back, you were the one that got me through the worst of it all." His smile faltered as a hard look crossed his face and his eyes seemed to become unfocused as he mentally relived his capture. "At first, I thought of how you stood strong in front of Dolza. You were defiant in his demand to submit. That gave me the strength and the will to defy them. As it got worse, I started to think about all the good times we shared. The talks, the jokes, even the kiss we shared."

She flushed beet red as he spoke, her gaze never leaving his face as his eyes seemed to refocus and he smiled gently to her.

"It was around the third year there that I had a sudden and rather surprising realization." He leand forward, hands laced as his elbows perched on the counter top. "I had first tried to use Minmei as a source of comfort. That didn't work. Actually that is being gracious. It was a horrible idea that only made it worse. My mind slowly began to place you in that spot and things became more bearable. My dreams turned to you. And in time, my head and my heart came to realize just who was my strength. Who the person was that was my light in the darkness. Wanna take a guess who it was?"

She gave a small, knowing grin at his joke and slowly reached over and took hold of his hand.

"Me?"

He nodded and started to lean over to her. "Yes. You. The woman who used to dive me crazy at times. But it was a good kind of crazy."

Screwing up her courage, she gave him a coy smile.

"So are you going to kiss me now? Or do I need to make it an order like I had to before?"

"Lisa, you'd never have to order me to do that again." He smirked. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm about to."

She leaned over herself. "You'd better Mister."

She closed her eyes, her own hand moving from her glass to the beck of his head. The kiss lasted for several seconds before she pulled back and smiled lovingly at him. Rick tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gave a wide grin. "Just as I dreamed it."

"You sure about this?" She asked him, her smile never wavering as Rick gave a snort in humor.

"I spent ten years thinking on this." He told her firmly. "Trust me when I say I am more than certain."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Alright, I know many of my loyal readers (All of you actually. Horray for me! Such a wonderful group you guys are too!) are waiting patiently for the next chapter of Darkness. Since I've been pulling third shift back to back, I'm all screwed up on my schedule. Damn you responsibilities! Andway, goofy one shot I cooked up on Sunday, but didn't finish till today. Darkness won't be update until hopefully sunday so sorry guys! And glad to see you guys enjoyed the most recent post for it. For a few days, I thought you guys hated it! Anyway, JayDog, I blame you for going back and rewatching the Princess Bride. I actually used the reference in War Thunder. No one caught 'Have Fun Storming the Castle' when we had two enemy bases left to bow up and I was outta planes. I've gone off on a tangent. So, here is a one shot to tide y'all over for now. Again, most sincere apologies. Life is pain.**

* * *

Costume Play (Not that kind...)

Rick Hunter was seething as he looked at the damage to his Veritech. He had been forced to return early from an expected three hour patrol because of a rather nasty surprise. "Of all the things to survive the Rain, geese were one of them."

They'd run into a flight of the little demons heading south for warmer climes and two of them had decided to greet his left fan intake with there little feathered bodies. If that wasn't bad enough, one decided to test whether it's head was stronger than his canopy glass. Thankfully, the reinforced glass cocoon survived, albeit pretty cracked and smeared from the remains. Vince was staring at the mess with the look of a man who was under the effects of the stomach flu.

"Well, any faster and the goose would have gone right through that glass." He swallowed hard as he turned to Rick. "The intake is shot though. Remote pings to the onboard are showing the geese were kind enough to hit a few sensitive parts on their way out."

"Kinda got that sense as I saw a massive gout of flames charbroil the whole engine nozzle." Rick scowled as he looked back at his bird. "This week has just gone down hill since New Detroit. First the Malcontents decided to bring back the glory days of robbing and shooting back to the city, now, Skull One is down because of a bunch of flying _rats_."

Vince grimaced as Rick rubbed at his forehead with the palm of his hand. The man was truly stressed out. "Maybe you need a break sir. I know how much stress you've been under since...well..."

"Since an old friend decided to say some pretty creative things in Chinese _and_ throw a bottle at me? Yeah, stressed. That's the perfect word for it." Rick shot with sarcasm before sighing. "I'm sorry Vince. Maybe you're right. I think a stop at the O Club will do me some good."

Vince seemed to hesitate before an interesting idea popped into his head. For this to work, he'd need his sister's help. He was sure she'd go along with it happily and it tied nicely into the upcoming costume party. "You know Captain, I think I have an even better idea. Tell me...you hear about the costume party this weekend?"

"Yeah. I heard the scuttle butt." Rick stated flatly. "Not planning to go honestly."

"I heard Captain Hayes might be there." Vince commented casually, seeing that he caught Rick's interest. "Something about how it sounded like fun."

Rick paused before trying to act like it wasn't too big of a deal, yet he was now reconsidering his earlier stance. "Oh, she did? Hmm...might be worth going after all."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa glared at the display harshly as the final report of Skull Squadron's patrol came back. Max had been forced to take over after a flight of Geese made a surprised guest appearance in their air space. Her anger wasn't directed at one Rick Hunter. Far from it. He had reacted accordingly and made the call to bring his wounded plane back, all while flying partially blind from the splattered goose across his canopy. No, her anger was something that had been building rapidly over the past week. It had been one problem after another and she was very close to losing what little control she had left on her temper. She let out an explosive sighed and leaned forward, hands supporting her on the console and her harsh, blazing green eyes were directed skyward through the bridge windows.

"Just one day." She hissed. "Just one day where things don't go completely south would be a nice change of pace."

"Trouble in paradise?"

She spared a short glance at her friend, her lips drawn into a tight scowl.

"Not even in the same zip code as paradise Claudia."

Said woman just gave her a flat look before she sighed. "You really need to find time to relax Lisa. You're getting wrinkles too early."

Lisa Hayes glared at her friend before taking a calming breath and rubbed her temples, feeling a massive migraine working it's way into existence.

"I'd love to take some time to relax." She admitted dryly. "I would love to have a chance to curl up on the couch with a good book and a warm cup of tea. But right now, the universe seems to have other plans in mind."

Eyeing her friend, Claudia contemplated whether to go through with Vince's plan, which surprised her as the man usually tended to stay out of other peoples affairs. She couldn't deny though that he had a very valid reason to do so. The two most important people on this ship, the CAG and the XO were very close to a breaking point that could trigger a massive melt down. "Lisa, I think I know just the thing. You know that costume party I told you about this Saturday?"

"I won't be going." Her voice was level but Claudia caught part of her wistful tone. "There is too much to do and not enough hours in the day."

"Come on Lisa!" Claudia had to play this right or it would fail on an epic scale. "You have to go out. Live a little! Besides, I know a guy who would very much enjoy your company."

Lisa gave her a disapproving stare. "I'm not going on a blind date Claudia. End of story."

"Never thought Lisa Hayes would be scared of going on a blind date." Claudia smirked. "Besides, I know the guy. He's a gentleman and I know for a fact you'd enjoy the evening. Besides, you'll be in costume. Not like anyone will recognize you."

Lisa paused and stared at her friend. After a long moment of silence, she shook her head. "As appealing as that may sound, I'm going to say no. I have no intention of dressing in costume just so no one will recognize me. Besides, I have other things that demand my attention."

Claudia chewed on her bottom lip before pulling out what she hoped would be her trump card. "I heard Rick may be going."

Lisa froze, slowly turning to face her friend.

"You heard?" She asked slowly as her mind began to spin with possibilities. "From who?"

"It doesn't matter since you are so set against going." Claudia waved her hand dismissively. On the inside, she was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "If you must know, I heard from Vince. Apparently he said something about needing a chance to blow off some steam."

Lisa turned her attention back to her console. _If Rick_ _ **does**_ _go..he'll be dressed up like every one else. Maybe...if_ _ **I**_ _go, he might see that I'm not some old woman who is blinded by duty. Some one who does know how to relax._

Claudia spotted the conflicted look in Lisa's gaze, and smirked. She knew the younger woman would go for it. It was inevitable. Lisa slowly looked over to Claudia.

"If, and that is a very big if, I go..." She paused and snuck a quick look behind her, seeing the trio were wrapped up in their own discussion. "What would I even go as?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Saturday arrived quickly for the party goers. Rick, having decided to go for the Dread Pirate Roberts, smirking as he checked to ensure his mask was on properly. He'd always liked the movie for all the hilarious dialogue and even funnier scenes. It made it a classic in his opinion. Walking into the room, he spotted Max easily enough. He'd decided to go as some anime character that Rick couldn't place. All he knew is he was wearing pupiless contacts and some kind of battle robe. Rick gave a slight shrug and made his way towards his friends. Miriya appeared beside him, dressed as a tasteful Wonder Woman though since the character was a warrior woman, it made sense she'd chose that.

"Well hey Rick!" Max greeted, smirking. "Princess Bride huh? Not a bad movie. Though I think you should have gone for a classic like Star Wars or something."

Rick smirked and cocked his head to the side. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Neji from Naruto!" Max laughed. "You really need to get up on the times buddy!"

"Miriya, very nice costume." Rick inclined his head towards the woman. "If anyone can pull of the amazon look, it would be you."

She smiled brightly. "Thank you Commander. Max said I should come to this as someone from the show his is dressed as, but I found the idea of Wonder Woman to be more aptly fitting in my case."

"True. So, who else is coming? I know Claudia isn't as she's pegged for duty tonight." Rick remarked. "Not sure about Vince or Jean, but I know they were planning to come."

Max opened his mouth to speak before he looked to the entrance and started chuckling. Rick turned and grinned in amusement as the Trio entered, dressed as the Fairy Godmothers from Sleeping Beauty. It was hilarious as the outfits were not exactly pg 13. He shook his head and turned back to a grinning Max. "Maybe they should have dressed as a group of huntresses. They look to be on the prowl."

Rick laughed and clasped Max on his shoulder. "Maybe, but it should be highly entertaining."

"Do you think Captain Hayes will attend?" Miriya asked curiously, slightly rising her voice over the music.

"Maybe. I think Claudia said she was considering it." Rick replied. He did admit he was hoping to see her here. Maybe now that he'd finally closed the door fully on Minmei, he'd be able to talk to her and try to see if the signals he'd been catching were directed at him. He hoped so. Max gave him a knowing look.

"You planning to go all Westley on her if she does?" He smirked. "She might be the only one to get the reference."

"You both seem to understand the movie you are talking about so it is not inconceivable that she too would understand it." She paused before continuing. "In fact, I find it odd many do not seem to get it."

"It's a classic from 1972. You should really watch it."

Max snorted. "Last thing I need is for her to start quoting the movie all the time. She got me last night with a Star Trek one."

"Okay, I gotta hear this." Rick said in an amused tone, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Let's just say a woman bent on bed room fun saying 'Resistance is Futile' does much to a man." Max chuckled as Miriya smirked.

"It was the perfect moment for that quote."

Rick just shook his head before he heard Miriya let out a startled gasp. Looking up, he followed her gaze and his eyes went wide before his jaw dropped. Walking down the stairs, dressed in a fairly good rendition Princess Leia from Episode IV was one Lisa Hayes. Max leaned over, smirking. "Yup, you should have gone with Star Wars."

Rick didn't even bother answering as he started forward, not even aware he was until he found himself in front of her. Lisa looked at him, amused as she took in his costume. "The Dread Pirate huh?"

Rick just nodded, not even trusting his voice. This was a surprising twist as he had no idea she even watched Star Wars. They remained silent for a few minutes, her eyes sparkling in humor before she extended her hand. "Shall we?"

Rick said the only thing that popped into his head. "As you wish."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa was smiling as her face flushed. She'd had a wonderful time and dancing with Rick did much to ease her stress levels. She glanced over at him as he had removed the head wrap and the eye mask. "Warm?"

He gave her a grin.

"More like bad idea." He chuckled. "Maybe I should have gone as Han."

She cocked her head, a teasing smirk on her lips. "Cocky pilot thinking he is indestructible...yeah it would have fit very well."

"Hey now, I'm not cocky." He feigned hurt before grinning. "Okay, maybe a little."

She smirked and sipped the punch he had gotten her. "I have to admit, this was a great idea and-Oh my God!"

Rick turned to look as Lisa clamped a hand over her mouth, giggles spilling from her as she tired hard not to spill the glass. His eyes followed her gaze and felt his mouth drop. He really couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was Admiral Gloval entering looking completely out of place. "He chose Jack Sparrow?"

 _"Captain_ Jack Sparrow." Lisa corrected with a slight English accent and an impish smile. Rick turned and grinned at her.

"Didn't realize you were a big movie buff." He teased. "Next you'll tell me you liked Terminator."

She smirked and gave him a wink. "Guilty as charged."

Rick favored her with an inquisitive stare as she took a sip from the glass.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this open." He commented with a smile. "And I'm actually really enjoying spending time with you."

"You're not so bad yourself Fly Boy." She replied before placing her glass down and lacing her fingers together. "Tonight seems to be full of surprises."

"It has. Good ones too. Great as a matter of fact."

"Oh?" She cocked a single eyebrow. "You've enjoyed my company that much tonight?"

He gave a smirk and a nod. "Most definitely."

She felt her heart skip a beat as he leveled his blue eyes on her. "More to say?"

Rick gave a laugh and shook his head before explaining his sudden amusement.

"Sorry. For a second there I heard that in Yoda's voice!" He chuckled. She waited as he got control of himself and his gaze became serious. "Lisa...I came here tonight hoping I'd run into you."

"You were?" She asked in a confused tone before her eyes narrowed. "Whatever it is, you can't prove it was me and I have an alibi."

Rick blink owlishly as she seemed to stare into his very soul. "What?"

"Oh...uh...forget I said that." She muttered before smiling brightly at him. "So...why did you want to run into me?"

Giving a slight shake and mentally telling himself to keep that slip in mind for later. "Okay...Anyway, I have something that's been on my mind for awhile. Actually, I noticed it over two years ago but didn't want to say anything until I dealt with a few personal issues. You willing to hear me out, no matter how crazy it may sound? Or I might sound?"

Seeing his uncomfortable posture and reached over to him and squeezed his hand, favoring him with a warm smile. "What ever it is, I promise to hear you out and not make any rash decisions."

"Remember you promised." He muttered before sighing. "Look, maybe I'm misreading the situation, and I hope to hell I'm not because then that would depress the hell out of me. I'm talking shut myself away as a hermit depressed."

"Okay..." She gave him a confused look. "What situation are you talking about?"

 _Come on Hunter. Pop didn't raise a damn coward! Be a man and just say it!_

"Lisa...do you...well, do you like me?" He asked in a small voice. _Oh yeah, because nothing says_ I'm a man _by speaking like a scared kid. Geez._

He watcher her face register surprise before her cheeks flared red. He felt himself get crushed as her wide eyes locked onto his. She only responded with a "Oh." His gaze fell back to the table and his shoulders sagged, thinking he had been completely off the mark.

"Well, based on your reaction, I was pretty far off target." He tried to keep his depressed tone from his voice. "Guess it was wishful thinking."

Lisa snapped out of her stunned daze and heard his last statement. "What do you mean wishful thinking?"

"I uh...well I was really hoping you'd say I was right." He told her dejectedly.

"You...you were?" Her voice was almost a whisper and her hand never left his. "But...what about...?"

"New Detroit kind of answered that. Not that I hadn't already decided to close that door before Dolza's attack." He turned and looked out over the dance floor. "I got my closure then, and now...well, guess I'll need to pick out a mountian to go hide in."

"No man I love will hide out as some bearded hermit."

"Rick snapped his head around at her stern tone and caught the mirth in her eyes. He didn't want to believe what she said, but he felt hope. "You...I was right?"

"Well, even a scruffy looking nerf hearder can be right." She teased.

Rick rubbed his jaw and shot her a cocky grin. "Whose scruffy looking?"

The pair fell into laughter for a few minutes before Rick sobered up and clasped both of Lisa's hands in his.

"Please tell me you're not joking with me here." He half pleaded.

Lisa seemed to be in thought, her mind screaming at her with possible ways to tell him she was serious and a sudden thought sprang into her hand. Grinning slyly, she pulle dher hand free, and quickier than Rick could imagine, grabbed him by the loose shirt and pulled him into a kiss. They came apart to the sound of applause and they turned to see a grinning Admiral Gloval leading the applause, the outfit looking completely hilarious on him. "It is about time. I was extremely tempted to send you both to counseling to work out your issues."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: An AU oneshot that places are favorite crew in WWII. I did some research and the locations and planes mentioned are period specific and accurate so it adds some realism to this. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think. This one comes from playing War Thunder as a Bomber geared pilot between writting the next chapter for Darkness. That is slow going as my sleep schedule is all kinds of FUBAR because of third shift. So, anyway, read, enjoy, review! Three step programs are fun! And the crack on Lucky Strikes...I really think they taste like ass.**

* * *

Bomber Glory

Captain Rick Hunter looked over his B-17 Heavy Bomber with a fond look. The year was 1944 and World War Two was in full swing. Two months ago, the Allies had stormed Normandy and sent the Nazi troops along with the conscripted men running deeper into France. The plan was to force them all the way back to Berlin with their tails between their legs and the US Army Air Corps would ensure they stayed running. Looking over at the RAF Airfield they'd been using as a launch point, Rick spotted a flight of Spitfires throttling to take off from the runway, the roar of their engines screamed power as they took wing into the morning sun.

"We ready for our next mission sir?"

Rick glanced at Lieutenant Max Sterling, a man with the most bizarre hair color he had ever scene. Max had been flying with Rick since they'd arrived in England and was one hell of a pilot. He'd scene the man make a B-34 dance in the sky with such grace, even the German Air Force tended to stay away from the ungainly lady. "Almost. Intel says they found a German weapons plant and some kind of weapon launch point. Those nice fireworks they've been sending over here have to go."

"Heard Buzzard's flight tried to hit the target last week." Max commented as the two men headed towards the briefing room. "Ben was pretty pissed. You see how bad they shot up his bird?"

"Oh yeah." Rick winced, recalling the sight of the wounded bird. "I'm surprised he landed that thing in one piece. Wing shot to hell and his fuselage peppered with holes."

"Don't forget the destroyed tail and missing left gear." Max frowned. "He's lucky."

"Probably why he's going to repaint her and name her Lucky Lady." Rick laughed. "Come on, we know how Major Fokker can be when a brief get's held up."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Major Roy Fokker looked over the pilots of his Bomber Wing and took a drag on his lucky stripe before crushing the smoldering but in the ash tray. He mentally reminded himself to talk to Major Price and see if he could trade for some better smoke. Strikes tasted like ass in his opinion, no matter what the R.J. Reynolds claimed. "Alright. Shut up and park it."

The room silenced as the projector kicked on and he locked his eyes on the room.

"Here's the mission. Seems the Germans have been developing what they call a V-2. It's designed to fly between countries and strike at pre designated targets. Now, they ain't too accurate right now, but the beer hall boys are getting better with their aim. The Joint Chiefs have decided to rain on their parade before they pop one of those off at New York or Washington. That's where we come in."

The slide changed to an aerial reconnaissance photo. Rick looked over the photo with a critical eye, noting the circled targets clustered in what looked like groups of ten. Juicy targets for a bomber crew. "The cocky bastards think we can't hit them. But we will. They Japs thought the same thing until General Doolittle paid them a little visit. As you can see, they've been kind enough to cluster their wonder weapons in goups of ten. Five groups plus the main storage dump and out lying buildings."

"Our mission will take us over occupied territory to Mery-sur-Oise in France, the one that is the biggest threat. It'll be a dawn raid to help minimize the odds of getting shot to hell by any German planes or trips they have on the ground. Once we get on site, we drop our gifts then haul ass back to friendly skies. Any questions?"

"What kind of escort are we getting?" Rick asked, arms crossed as his eyes never left the image before him.

"Mixed flights of P-51s and Spitfires. Twelve planes but they won't be going with us to the target." He held up a hand as confused and outraged chatter began to flare up. "It's not ideal but it's the only option we have on the table to maximize the success of the mission. More planes means bigger radar imprint. Our girls are armed well enough that we should be able to swat down any annoying flies that come our way."

"What time do we launch?" Max queried. "And what are we looking at for flight time?"

"We'll be wheels up by 0200. Should take us near three hours to reach the site." Roy responded. "We'll head back out the same route we took in and we'll be escorted back here. Any other questions?"

The room was silent as Roy took one final look around and gave a smirk. "Alright boys, go get some rest and be ready to leave in ten hours. And when we get back, first round is on me!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick leaned back, boots on the table as the radio played a soft tune he hummed along with, eyes on the sky as the mid day sun burned brightly in the clear sky. He thoughts turned once more to the woman that was always on his mind lately, one he hadn't seen in nearly a year since...well since that night. A small scowl crossed his lips as he remembered the morning after. He'd thought things had gone well. In fact, he was sure of it. But to find out she worked for Naval Intelligence, that was a massive shock to him. He turned his head to the sound of the door opening and his eyes narrowed as the same woman he was just thinking about entered the small bar set up on base. Honey wheat colored hair done in a business like bun with only a few strands dropping down to frame her delicate face and her Naval Uniform looking pristine and well cared for. Green eyes landed on his and he saw a flash of fear, regret, and surprisingly, longing. "Long time no see ma'am."

He spotted the almost invisible flinch from Commander Lisa Hayes and had to fight down a smirk that threatened to cross his face. She made her way deliberately to his table and took the chair opposite of him with out a word. They sat, staring at each other for several minutes before she spoke.

"Captain Hunter." She greeted in a formal tone tinged with a smattering of frostiness to it. "I see you're well."

"As well as could be I suppose Commander." He shrugged and clasped his hands behind his head. "I take it you're here for a very specific purpose."

Her emerald green eyes narrowed at his dismissive tone. "You don't seem too happy to see me Rick."

"Should I be?" He asked casually.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Look, I know you're upset about what happened. And I'm sorry."

He pursed his lips together and just sent her a cold look.

"You're sorry?" He repeated before he swung his legs back to the ground and clasped his hands together in front of himself. "You're sorry for what Lisa? For what happened between us? For leaving before I even woke up the next morning?"

"In case you failed to realize then, we were both in the wrong." She had an edge of steel in her voice. "It was completely inappropriate. I let it get too far."

Rick snorted. "Too far huh? I'll say. You know what I regret the most about that whole month? Not checking if you were spook before we started dating."

Lisa just frowned at him before her face softened and she sighed.

"Look. I made a mistake in just running off the next morning with out saying good bye or explaining anything to you. And I'm sorry for that. Truly. But I'm not here to relive the past. I'm here to give you this." She slid a small letter across the table to his and rose to her feet.

"Don't open that until you return from your mission." She ordered. "I'll be here when you get back."

Rick gave a short nod, watching her leave before he eyed the letter with some hesitation. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to follow her directions, Rick grabbed the letter and slid it into the cargo pocket of his flight suit and rose to his feet. It was getting late and he had a mission in a few hours.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The early morning sky was always unnerving to Rick. With the cloud cover, they'd be hard pressed to see any enemy fighters baring down on them. This was a double edged sword as it would make it harder to spot the dark colored bombers hiding in the same clouds. Checking his gauges, he was satisfied with what he saw. Holding steady at an altitude of 10,000 and cursing on course at 158 knots. He glanced at his co pilot. A young kid, fresh from the fields back home named James 'Jimmy' Peters. Jimmy was a good kid and had a future ahead of him as a pilot. "Hey, Jimmy. You up or sleeping over there?"

The brown haired kid smirked as he looked to Rick.

"Wide awake old man." He looked at his watch as the rumble of the powerful Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone' engines mounted on the wings. "Looks like we have about twenty minutes until we're over the target."

"Yeah. Should be one hell of a fireworks show down there." Rick remarked with some humor. "Almost feel kind of bad for them."

"Almost." Jimmy chuckled before turning back to the bay and cupping his hands. "Hey, Frank! Heard you had some good news today!"

Frank Jones glanced over at Jimmy with a wide grin. "Damn right! Wife wrote and told me I got a little one on the way!"

Rick grinned as he heard the man's Bronx accent clear as a bell.

"Well damn Frankie." Rick laughed. "Now I need to make sure you get home!"

"So much for pushing him out the bomb bay!" One of the other gunners joked and clasped him on the shoulder.

The crew began laughing uproariously as the radio crackled to life and Rick heard Major Fokker's voice cutting over the static. _"Rick, you boys ready?"_

"You know we are sir." He replied.

 _"Good. Because we start our decent in five minutes. Maintain formation as we pass then haul your ass home. Commander Hayes was pretty specific in her 'request'."_

Rick rolled his eyes as he heard the teasing tone in his older brother's voice. They weren't blood brothers, but their fathers had served together in the last war when airplane combat was still in it's infancy. "Roger that Boss. See you on the other side Roy."

The ten minute wait passed quickly as they went about final checks and as one, eighteen US Army Air Corps heavy bombers dipped down below the clouds. The first sign that something was wrong was the sudden appearnce of search lights before all hell broke loose. Rick bit of a curse as he rocked his mighty lady, swerving between flak blasts and tracers slipping past them. The radio let up as other crews were vocing their own surprise until Roy's voice cut through, stern and calm. _"Stay on course! Ten minutes until target!"_

"Hey Rick!" Frank called in alarmed. "We got Kraut fighters!"

"Light them up!" Rick ordered and dipped his nose long enough to avoid a burst that would have skewered the cockpit and turned him and Jimmy into paste. "God damn this is a bad dance to get roped into!"

The belly turret of the Flying Fortress spun as a flight of Heinkel He 112 fighters soared up at them. The M2 Browning machine guns opened up, .50 rounds shattering the left wing of the lead fighter and sent it spinning away, trailing black oily smoke and fire. The other three broke off and danced away as tracers shot after them from the waist guns, buying them time. One 17 was not as lucky as Rick's and a stream of Triple A slammed home into her right wing, tearing it clear. The wounded bomber began to roll and fall from the sky before twin flak bursts split her back, sending the tail in one direction and the rest of the burning plane in the other. Rick grit his teeth and kept his flight path as level as he could as the bombadeer called out they had the target in sight and the 6,000 lbs of high explosive gifts were on the way. Rick banked hard right, calling out a warning right before a burst of triple air tore through the cockpit, Yelping in surprise Rick turned and closed his eyes as sparks and shrapnel bounced through the enclosed space, but thankfully missed him. He chanced a look over to Jimmy and snarled as he saw was left of the man's body slumped at the controls. That moment he took was all that was needed for fate to sucker punch him.

The bomber gave a might lurch and Rick fought hard to regain control of his plane before Frank's voice made his stomach drop. "Ho-lee shit! Flak caught the left engines!"

Sneaking a quick look, Rick saw both his left engines were in flames. The lucky bastard ground side had put a flak round right between the two and shrapnel did the rest. Acting quickly, he shut the two engines down and felt his craft pull to the left as the thrust was cut. Turning the wheel to avoid her rolling over, his hands danced over the throttle controls as he planted his right foot on the yaw pedals to keep them straight. Logically, he knew he was screwed. Two engines down on the same wing was something hard to come back from. Thankfully, he was already on the return course so that was a plus. But Murphy decided to rear his ugly face as a pair of 112s dived down on the wounded bird and strafed her body, killing the top turret gunner and half his remaining crew. Alarms flared to life as the Bomber began to lose altitude. He screamed in rage as the fighters came around again and leveled the kill blow on her by hitting her last two engines.

The last thing he saw was the ground rushing up to meet him as he pulled back hard on the controls. Once the belly made contact with the ground, Rick's head slammed into the controls and sent him into unconsciousness.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

He woke with a start and tired to sit up quickly before he felt a hand push him back down gently. Blinking the fog from his eyes, Rick looked around him and noticed a man with dark brown hair and brown eyes giving him a friendly smile. "Welcome back."

Rick noted the distinctly German accent and scowled. "Captain Hunter, Richard E. USAAC."

The man chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. "None of that Captain. I am not Nazi. Doctor Emil Lang is my name. You are safe for now."

Rick eyed him with disbelief before he looked around and saw he was in some kind of run down building that was filled with a rather large number of what looked like German civilians and even a few Russians. This was new. One of them, a tall rather large built man with an impressive mustache made his way to the pair and looked down at Rick. "Is he able to travel?"

"Soon Colonel Gloval."

"And just where am I going?" Rick shot. "Sorry pal, but my only plan is to make for allied lines."

The Russian smirked and cocked his head. "As is ours American."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick sat awake that night and pulled the letter from his pocket with some trendiption, staring at it as he contemplated whether to open it or not.

"From your woman?"

Rick looked over and saw Colonel Gloval sit down next to him and pull a wooden pipe from his jacket, lighting the pipe in a practiced motion. Rick sighed and shrugged.

"Maybe. I don't know." He admitted.

Gloval eyed him with a curious expression.

"You say you do not know. Do you wish for her to be?" He questioned.

Rick looked at him in surprise. Did he? The answer came to him quickly as it had a year ago. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

"Then go for her." Gloval grinned, puffing on the pipe. "Hesitation will get you no where. I take it she wrote the letter in your hands?"

"Yes."

Henry nodded and leaned back against the tree. "Then I suggest you read my friend. You may find an answer in her words."

Rick was surprised once more and thanked the man before he decided to open the letter. The writing was perfect as it normally was but it was the words that got his attention:

 _"My dearest Rick,_

 _'A year ago I made a terrible mistake that has haunted me ever since. I know now that I shouldn't have just left. I've wanted to tell you how sorry I am and to ask for your forgiveness for the pain I put you through. My only excuse is I let the regulations blind me to what really mattered in my life. That is you. Always has been. I've been keeping an eye on you since you were sent to the front. It's taken me this long to get the courage to finally answer you. If you still want to have me in your life, then my answer, late as it is, is yes._

 _'Once this war is over, if you do decide to forgive me, I would love nothing more than to settle down with you. The foolish mistakes of a young woman stuck in her ways has harmed both of us, you more so and I am willing to work hard to prove this to you. As I write this letter, you are being briefed on your latest mission. I know you'll come back as you always do, so I hope you waited to read this as I plan to tell you to. Otherwise, you'll be distracted._

 _'Look, I know words can only convey so much. So to show you I am serious, meet me at the bar once you have finished this. I will be waiting for your return and your answer. I pray that you will allow me back into your life._

 _'All my love, Commander Lisa Hayes USN."_

Closing his eyes, Rick folded the letter up and placed it back into his pocket, his heart beating quickly and his mind spinning. Across from him, Colonel Gloval studied the young man before him, noting his reaction to the letter.

"Is it a good letter?"

Rick opened his eyes and gave a wide smile.

"It was." He confirmed. "And I got my answer. Looks like I need to hurry back to her."

Colonel Gloval laughed and clasped the man on the shoulder. "And we shall Comrade. But first, we must deal with the annoying _cykas_ between us and your woman."

A feral grin spread across Rick's face.

"Let them try to stop me. I've got a good woman waiting on me, and I don't intend to be late."


	32. Chapter 32 Calling all RoboTech Fans!

**A/N: Alright, so me and JayDog had a bit of an idea some time ago. A Robotech Abridged series. Well, putting some work in, we hashed out this script for the first episode. We need some more bast members and some one who is really good at editing video and such. Rick, Roy, Breetai, and Exedore are off the table. Gloval will bounce between Italian accent and Russian so if you can do that, awesome. Open roles:**

 **Claudia, Ben, Max, Gloval, Lang, Extras, Minmei (Not sure yet if an annoying snotty one or a ditzy tone), Uncle max, his wife, the mayor, Donald Hayes, Lisa, The Trio, Masitroff, and pretty much all the others. If you can do multiple, sweet. If you are interested, give me or JayDog75 a PM and we'll go from there. Please label the message as Abridged and whatever voices you want to do.**

 **At the very least, let me know if you'd watch this. As said, it's going to be abridged to the likeness of TFS. So yeah, should be fun.**

* * *

RoboTech Abridged

Episode One: Big Ship

Script: Written by theGhostflyer and JayDog75

Cast: theGhostflyer- Rick, Exedore, Narrator (?), various extras

JayDog75- Roy, Breetai, various extras

?

Editor: ?

[Opening scene of Space that shifts to Earth; Narrator opens two seconds after initial Fade in]

{Narrator} Earth...a beautiful planet of lush green fields...brilliant blue oceans...and Peaceful and intelligent people...[Shot of War from original opening of the Civil War]. Yeah, peaceful. On this tiny world, a mighty space fortress would make it's gentle and friendly landing. [Seen of SDF-1 blasting past buildings and destroying them before hitting Macross Island]. Okay, maybe not so gentle.

[Cut to scenes of SDF-1 being repaired]

{Narrator} The year is 1999, which was much cooler than any other year as there was no Justin Bieber destroying the music industry. So man kind was able to focus and rebuild the massive and suspiciously abandoned ship. Well...mostly. [Show panel from Comic detailing Puppet Soldier] Ten long years have passed, a mighty city rose around the crashed ship. And all that hard work has paid off. Today, the mighty fortress will once more take to the stars, her crew ready to handle anything. Except if the ship suddenly comes alive and blows up two alien ships in orbit. But what are the odds of that happening?

[Scene of SDF-1 prior to launch, Bridge with Claudia and Lisa. Lisa enters bridge]

{Lisa} Anyone seen the Captain? Our launch starts in fifteen minutes.

{Claudia} Not sure. Maybe having a few last minute words with the Mayor.

[Cut to Gloval in car]

{Mayor} And we painted the Burger King logo on the right engine. Looks like a tramp stamp! But, product placement is key!

{Gloval}[Thoughts] Oh God this hang over. His voice makes it worse]

{Mayor still yammering while Gloval's thoughts go through} We're also going to add those family stickers to the rear window too. I think we were able to get an admiral one for you and about 40,000 little kids for the crew...

[Cut to bridge]{Lisa} Probably. At least he probably got some sleep last night.

{Claudia} You didn't? I slept great. What kept you awake last night?

{Lisa} It was because of you and Commander Fokker. The walls are thin and you're loud.

[Cut to Terrible Trio all snapping heads towards the two then to Claudia looking smug]

{Claudia}[smugly] At least I have a man to make me loud.

{Kim}[In whisper] Apply cool water to burned skin.

{Lisa, angry in back ground} Get back to work!

[Vanessa reports on unknown plane coming in]{Lisa} Who is stupid enough to fly towards an air show?

[Cut to Racer with Rick]{Lisa} Craft approaching on course one zero seven, please identify yourself.

{Rick} Rick Hunter, invitation number two zero one.

{Lisa} A personal invitation from Lieutenant Commander Fokker. Alter to course zero five for landing.

{Rick} Will do. [Click off radio] Sounds like the kind of chick that would shoot a missile at someone for no reason...why does that sound like foreshadowing?

[Cut to Roy during airshow]

{Roy} You'll see we have applied human know how to a complex alien technology in moves you've probably seen us do hundreds of times in practice.

[Show VF-1s doing some tricks]{Roy} RoboTech makes all this possible.

[Crowd begins to laugh, show racer dart through act] {Roy, agitated} Oh you gotta...Rick Hunter! What the hell do you think you're up to? Get out of the way of the real pilots.

{Rick} Oh? It's like that huh? I'm gonna make you eat those words.

[Cut to booster climb and follow through to landing. Change to Breetai's arrival]{Breetai} You sure this is the right place?

{Exedore} Yes Commander. We lo jacked the ship. Jake from Space Farm says it's here.

{Breetai} Looks like the space boonies here. Not even a Spaceway or a souvenir shop. These people are completely ignorant of Space Tourism Tactics.

{Exedore} Indeed. And I was one Big Gulp from a free one...

{Breetai} Send someone to get directions to the nearest Spaceway. Maybe they know where one is.

[Cut to Mayor talking] And that is why this ship is so awesome!

[Officer leans to Henry] We've detected strange readings near the moon sir. Probably just a weather balloon.

{Gloval Russian} Oh thank God...I mean, this is serious. I'll be on the bridge.

[Cut to Roy and Rick in Trainer] {Rick} This thing doesn't look too hard to fly.

{Roy} Yeah, well, trust me. It is.

{Rick} Why is it armed? Why would you people arm a trainer?

{Roy} Plot device.

{Rick} Ah...gotcha.

[Cut to SDF-1 Bridge]{Claudia} Holy...Captain! The guns are getting ready to fire on their own!

[Superimpose war footage over Gloval's face of machine guns]

{Gloval in russian accent} Ride the lighting!

{Lisa} What?

[Cut to SDF-1 shooting and destroying two Zentrdi ships before Breetai and Exedore see destruction of their ships]{Breetai} Oh come on! I hadn't even paid those off yet! Do they have any idea what this will do to my space credit?!

{Exedore}[Surprised] That was a little extreme.

{Breetai} Send the lawyers to get their insurance information.

{Exedore} Look. Seems they are sending ships. Maybe they over reacted?

[Cut to space battle] {ARMD10 Captain} Engaging hostile ships!

{ARMD10 Officer} Should we use our main guns?

{ARMD10 Captain} No. Our missiles will do the trick.

{ARMD10 Officer} Uh, sir...what if that doesn't work?

{ARMD10 Captain} Trust me. It will work.

[Show leading ships getting blown up, shift to Breetai and Exedore]{Breetai} And there go the lawyers...well, not too much of a loss.

{Zed Soldier} Incoming enemy ships. They launched the missile barrage.

{Breetai, with enthusiasm} Blast them to bits!

{Exedore} Why do you always shout that?

[ARMD10 gets shot up and drifts away]

{Officer in sarcastic tone} You were saying?

{ARMD10 Captain} Shut up!

[Cut to Rick and Roy in trainer]{Rick} That was pretty cool.

{Roy} That...was new. You stay here. I'm going to go find out what happened.

{Rick} What is something goes wrong?

{Roy} **Snort** Don't worry. If a battle does start, no one in their right mind would send a guy wearing an ascot into a battle. By the way...An ascot? I have to ask, where did you park the Mystery Machine or did Shaggy and Scooby drive off on the hunt for some "Scooby Snacks"?

{Rick} This coming from the guy that arms a training plane.

{Roy} You know what? Bite me. Stay put and don't get any funny ideas of taking off.

{Rick, irritated tone} Seeing I just flew circles around guys flying one of these with my dinky ass plane, keeping me on the ground sounds like a _great_ idea.

{Roy, annoyed} - Now you listen...

{Rick} Next thing you're gonna do is quote Top Gun or something lame like that.

{Roy}SHUT UP AND STAY PUT!

{Rick} Sheesh, what a grouch. It's like he didn't get enough sleep.

[Cut to bridge]{Gloval laughing}

{Lisa} What the hell? I think he's gone insane!

{Gloval, speaking in Italian accent} No, not insane! This ship had a booby trap!

{Claudia} Wait...I thought you were Russian?

{Gloval, still in Italian accent} It depends on the dub. Now, we need to get ready to fight. Launch all our fighters!

[Cut to fighters taking off]{Roy} Alright boys! Let's kick the tires and light the fires!

{Skull Member} Top Gun is still gay!

{Roy} Shut up Carl! Get into the air and get ready to fight off these aliens.

{Rick over radio} CALLED IT!

{Roy really annoyed} Goddamnit Hunter!

[Fighters take off and scene cut to Breetai looking over a map]{Breetai} Looks like they have a few knock off Spaceways. Prices look better...oh hey! There's the Fortress! And...it's...what did they do to it?

{Exedore} Hmmm...new coat of pain and a new body job. Not bad.

{Breetai}That ship was vintage! Now...ah damn it! It's lost value. Stupid modders...Who paints a space ship blue?

{Exedore} Who paints a ship green?

{Breetai} Good point. Still...we need to get that ship back or we'll lose the war to the invid.

{Exedore} It's too early to explain that plot device just yet. In fact, we probably have people actually watching this show for the first time and will end up lost.

[Cut to close up of Breetai] If you haven't yet watched RoboTech, or the original by the name of Macross...you're gonna learn today!

{Exedore} Enough fourth wall breaking Commander. We must get back to the task at hand.

{Breetai} You're right. Send in the ground forces.

[Cut to SDF-1 shooting missiles from defense batteries, shift to Rick in Veritech]

{Lisa over com panel} Hey, you with the Ascot! Why haven't you taken off yet? Better yet, why aren't you in uniform?

{Rick} You mean me?

{Lisa} No, the other idiot in a bright orange flight suit with an ascot. Yes, you. Your engines are overheating and you have full weapons so take off and defend the city!

{Rick} IN case you hadn't noticed, the runway is kind of on fire...and smoking...with craters all over it.

{Lisa}[Agitated tone] In case _you_ can't tell, runway two is still intact. Now, take off!

[Com panel cuts off]

{Rick} Geez, what a grumpy old sour puss...probably hasn't been laid in years.

{Groud crew} You're all set sir! Go kick some ass!

{Rick} Well, alright. Here goes nothing!

[Trainer takes to the skys]

{Rick} Thank God all my years flying in a circus has prepared me for flying in an air battle!

[Rick breaks through cloud cover, sees the massive dogfight and planes exploding]

{Rick} On second thought...maybe I should just go home.

{Roy on panel}Hang on boys! Enemy fighters are pretty thick out here, so watch where you're flying and keep each other covered.

{Rick} Hey, Fokker! Thought you said no one would launch a guy in an ascot!

{Roy} Well, at least you're flying straight!

[Rick vanishes from the screen with a surprised yelp]

{Roy} Huh...probably should go see if he's still alive...

[Cut to bridge, Gloval looking contemplative]{Gloval Russian Accent} Did we just launch a pilot wearing an ascot?

[Everyone looks to Gloval] {Claudia} And that's back again.

{Lisa} Yes sir.

{Gloval in Russian accent} Nice...stylish and functional.

{Lisa} The pilot?

{Gloval russian accent} The ascot.

[Cut to Roy catching up to Rick]{Roy} You're fine you big baby. Didn't even scratch the pain.

{Rick} Oh can it chowder head.

{Roy} Why I oughta...Alright, just fly like you did with the air circus.

{Rick} No one tried to shoot me at the air circus! Well...except that one time...

[Rick gets strafed, spins out of control]{Rick, thoughts} My life...it's flashing before my eyes...well, been a good run. Wonder if a beautiful angel will take me to heaven? [Lisa's face appears on the panel, still in thought speak] And I was wrong. Hello to you too, Satan.

{Lisa on panel} VT102, you are headed right at the bridge! Is that ascot cutting off the bloodflow to your brain? Turn already before you kill us!

{Rick} Little tough to do so when my controls are dead. Hell, I can't even eject out of this thing!

{Roy over radio} Don't do it, Rick! Goose died that way!

{Carl, over radio} Still gay!

{Roy, over radio} Can it, Carl, or those pics from the volleyball game hit Facebook!

[Silence comes over the radio, quick shot of the bridge and a puzzled look from Claudia and Lisa]

{Roy, over radio} Thought so.

{Lisa on panel} Shift to mode B then!

{Rick} The hell do you mean mode b?

{Lisa, surprised tone} You don't know? Look, just grab the switch labeled B and pull it.

{Rick} F...G...a muffin button? Tempting...Ah! B! Got it!

[Rick pulls B lever and Trainer begins to shift around him]

{Rick as Veritech changes} Maybe making a stopover in Colorado on my way here was a bad idea...

[Show battloid ploughing through buildings before it stops and stands up]

{Rick} So...it's a transformer? Man, Michael Bay is gonna be pissed...

[Battloid looks skyward, battle shot]{Rick} Yep, definitely right out of a Michael Bay movie.

{Narrator} Young Rick Hunter now finds himself fighting for his life against a relentless enemy hell bent on...well, he doesn't know. In fact, no body knows just what they want.

[Cut to Exedore and Breetai on their bridge]

{Breetai} So...how is it?

{Exedore holding a speed way large fountain drink} It is not bad. I still prefer Space Dew, but this Mountain Dew is close.

{Breetai} We should probably call for a tow for the fortress. You think Space Farm can help there?

{Exedore} I'll call Jake. Once we get the Protoculture Matrix, we'll be able to beat the Invid

[Cut back to Rick staring skyward and fade to the episode teaser for episode 2]

{Narrator} Yes. No one knows what they want. Next episode of RoboTech Abridged, Rick will learn just what it means to be friendzoned, deal with an alien invasion, and a sudden wild ride to Pluto! Seriously, is there anyone out there who hasn't watched this show hundreds of times? It can't be just me...Next time on RoboTech Abridged, Countdown!


	33. Chapter 33

Text Break (One shot based on a real life experience of my own. Only difference is, I had one squadron to brief, not a whole air wing. And it was a weather brief. My MOS was 6842. Look it up.)

Rick leaned against the table, elbow propping his head up as Roy went over the details of the yearly SACO brief. He was slated next to give the normal health brief himself. The standard. Wrap it before you tap it spiel. Not that he need that particular lecture he reminded himself with a small, sly grin. He and Lisa had been responsible every time. He was broken from his musings as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Stealing a look at Roy, he knew his brother wouldn't notice as he pulled out the device. Surprised, he opened the phone and saw he had a text from Lisa.

 _Hey. How's the brief?_

Rick tapped his reply quickly, before looking back to Roy who was going over the lust of banned substances according to RDF Drug policy. _Boring. D.A.R.E. Should be brought back just for these classes._

In the break room, Lisa read over Rick's reply with a smirk as she sipped her coffee. Placing the cup down, she typed back her response.

 _What did you get assigned?_

Rick felt his cheeks warm up just a bit as he pondered how to answer that question. He knew she'd find it hilarious as he hadn't exactly been experienced when they had finally gone to the next step a few months ago. Fighting back a sigh, Rick decided to get it over with and sent her the text.

 _Sex Ed basically. Standard stuff. Be safe. No raw dogging._

Lisa felt her eyes widen as she clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling the giggles that bubbled up at the fact her former virgin boyfriend would be educating his peers on being protected during sex. The whole thing just struck her as ironic. She momentarily wondered if Roy had something to do with it. She paused and gave a slight nod. Yeah, Roy probably did do it for fun. Her cheeks flushed as a sly smirk crossed her face. She was going to have some fun with this. Quickly writing her response, she sent the message and retrieved her coffee and sipped it, smirking the whole time. Rick meanwhile, glanced at his phone as her reply appeared. His eyes narrowed as he read it.

 _Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from your own lecture._

Fumming, Rick replied just as quickly.

 _Oh really now? Last I checked, you weren't complaining last night._

Feeling smug, he waited for her reply. Lisa, meanwhile, was eyeing the response in amusement. Seems he had a bit of an ego on him now. She contemplated a good response when Claudia walked in and spotted her thoughtful friend. "Well, what's new in your world?"

"Oh, just trying to find ways to tease Rick while he's in his brief." She explained, grinning as Claudia smirked. "He has the sex health portion."

"Oh he does, does he?" Claudia raised an eyebrow. "And what has transpired so far?"

Lisa handed her phone to Claudia, waiting as the woman read the current replies before giving a small laugh. "The boy seems to have an ego in that regards. What are you going to do?"

An evil grin crossed Lisa's lips as she accepted the phone back.

"I'm thinking maybe a little bit of playful texts."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "You mean you're going to sext Rick. Oh this will be hilarious."

Rick felt his phone vibrate minutes later as Roy stepped down and allowed Commander Archer to take over, going over the OPSEC protocols when dealing with civilians. His eyebrows shot into his hairline as he looked at the picture on the screen. Feeling a bit uncomfortable in his pants as a new message popped in.

 _Like the view flyboy? If you're good boy, you'll see it again tonight._

Rick let out a small groan as he tried desperately not to look at the picture she had sent. Why had she sent him an upskirt picture? Shaking his head, Rick tapped a few words before putting his full focus on the boring brief. Lisa smirked as she read Rick's response.

 _Unexpected Lisa. But hey, you know me. I'm always good. You know you like what I can do with my hands._

Humming, amused, Lisa checked over her reply before sending it and checking the cloak. Still fifteen minutes until her break was over. Rick felt his phone vibrate and refused to look at it until it buzzed again. Fearing what maybe waiting, he checked his phone and he had to bite down on his hand to avoid letting out a groan. Where in the hell did she have these pictures?! Did she take them and save them until needed? But damned if it wasn't getting to him. He read the reply she sent.

 _Mmm...you have a point. Maybe I'll do that thing with my tongue that you like so much._

Rick felt his toes curl and his blood pressure rise as Roy looked to him, at first concerned before smirking in a knowing manner. Rick wanted to crawl into a hole as with only a few pictures and texts, Lisa had him running hot under the collar. Damn that woman!

"Well, up next, Commander Hunter will be giving you the sex health portion of the yearly breif." Roy gave an amused smirk. "Rick? Would you care to step up here and give us your brief? It won't be that hard to do."

Rick glared at Roy, catching how he put some emphasis on the word. "I think I'll stay here sir. Old injuries flaring up."

Roy snorted and motioned for him to continue, knowing damn well it wasn't an injury flaring up.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa hummed and entered her quarters, feeling smug as she spotted Rick laying on the couch, his eyes closed and his cheeks flushed. It looked like he'd just taken a shower. Probably a cold one from how he shivered. "Stressful day?"

Rick cracked open on eyes and gave her a sour look as she put on a completely innocent look of her own. Rick closed his eyes and went back to laying on the couch. Lisa gave a small laugh before she stepped over to him and crossed her arms over her chest, looking down on him in amsuement.

"Don't be like that flyboy."

Rick opened one eye. "You teased me while I was in a brief."

"Oh I'm sure you enjoyed letting your mind wander." She grinned slyly. "Though I think I prefer your wandering hands to your thoughts."

Rick groaned and covered his face as she just gave an impish smile.

"You're gonna be the death of me." He muttered as he looked up at her, scowling. "What possessed you to even take those pictures in the first place?"

She shrugged, still grinning. "Don't really remember. I think I took them just in case this opportunity ever came up. I'm sure I made things...hard for you today."

She shook his head as he sat up before giving her a confused look.

"What happened to the sweet woman who I never would have thought capable of such actions?"

Lisa leaned down, placing both her hands on his thighs, her thumbs rubbing circles through the fabric of his jeans and sending goose bumps up and down his arms. She smriked before leaning next to his head, her breath tickling his ears and her husky tone driving him nuts. "She was always here. Just waiting for the right man to show herself to."

Rick growled as she nipped at his ear, turning his smokey blue eyes to her own dark green ones.

"If you aren't careful, you're gonna be sore tomorrow."

"Promises, promises Commander." She drawled in a silky tone.

Rick didn't speak as she leaned in and gave him a small kiss before cocking her head to the side and smiling coyly. "If you feel...frustrated, I think we can do something about that."

Rick didn't answer verbally, but she got his message as she yelped in surprise as he pulled her down to the couch.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick smirked smugly as Lisa cursed him from the bedroom. "Damn it Rick! I need to be at the brief in twenty minutes and I can't even walk straight!"

Rick turned his head as Lisa strugled to make her way out of the bedroom, fumming as her green eyes flashed with irritation at him. Rick just shrugged, still looking smug.

"I warned you yesterday." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow as she just glared at him. "And last I checked, you more than enjoyed what happened last night."

She growled in irritation before she smirked and nodded her head towards him.

"Alright. You have a point." She bit her lip and sighed. "I just wish we'd have used protection."

Rick grimaced as he had realized they had indeed. "Well...you have a point. But, even if you do get pregnant from last night, I will always stay with you and love you."

She smiled and gave him a kiss before she headed out the door. Almost ten months later, Rick and Lisa would be blessed with their first child. And Rick would look back on that day and find himself happy those texts had been sent.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: First guys, apologies. Darkness is being placed on the back burner with a slow update process for the time being. Work has been insane (Working every shift under the sun it seems, almost as if I spend all my time at work). I'm not going to pull a Harmony Gold so don't worry. Darkness will have updates as I said, but they will be more likely once every two weeks or so. The new chapter is about fifty percent finished, but if I don't take a break from it, I'll lose my muse which is bad. So I'm posting a new project. Don't kill me! Anyway, enjoy these and the new project will be posted soon.**

* * *

Time Swap (Oneshot part one idea thing)

Rick walked into the interrogation room, confused as he spotted Captain Gloval waiting for him. He was even more surprised to see Roy with him as well, though Roy appeared to be more in shock than anything. Quizzically, Rick looked to his older brother who could only give him the same surprised look. Captain Gloval gave a short cough before speaking to the young Officer.

"Thank you for coming so promptly Lieutenant." he began. "We appear to have a...strange situation here."

Rick cocked his head to the side. "This have anything to do with that new fighter sitting on the flight deck under guard?"

"Yes. It does." The older man nodded before turning his gaze to the the one way mirror. In the room, a young woman sat, arms crossed in agitation. Rick noted her light brown hair, soft features, and an unfamiliar uniform. "This young woman was the pilot of the craft."

"Test pilot?" Rick asked before realizing if she was, she wouldn't be locked in an interrogation room under armed guard. "Never mind. Who is she?"

Since Rick arrived, Roy finally spoke up. "That's the fun part. Says her name is Captain Hunter."

Rick snapped his head to Roy, startled by that little nugget of information. Roy gave a nod of understanding. "Exactly. Only Hunter I know of that can fly a veritech is you Rick."

Blinking his surprise away, Rick returned his gaze to the Captain.

"Not that this isn't interesting sir, but why am I here?"

"The Captain has made it clear she will only speak with you."

Raising his hands in defense, Rick responded in a defensive tone. "Hey, I have no clue who she is Captain. Swear."

Captain Gloval gave a chuckle as Roy let a small smirk cross his face.

"I am aware of this. But I would like for you to speak with her. Specifically as to where she came from."

Seeing that he had no choice, the young pilot gave a nod and made his way to the door for the room the young woman sat in. With in moments, Rick entered the room and locked eyes on the woman, feeling a sense of familiarity. Her dark green eyes seemed to widen in surprise before softening and she smiled. Her voice, sounding very familiar broke him from his musing. "Well. Glad to see they brought you down here Lieutenant."

"You have me at a disadvantage here Captain." Rick commented, taking his place across from her. "You seem to know me but I haven't the slightest clue who you are."

"That's because I haven't been born yet, apparently."

Rick's brow furrowed as his mouth opened before he snapped it shut. Behind him, on the other side of the glass, Gloval and Roy shared a surprised look.

"Not born yet?" Rick repeated and saw her nod. "And that means you're some kind of time traveler? That's not possible."

"Normally yes, it's not." She agreed, grinning. "But when RoboTech is involved and a hyperspace fold test goes wrong, anything is possible."

Rick stared at her in confusion for several minutes before he finally spoke, her grin never leaving her face nor the sparkle in her very familiar green eyes. "Just who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She chuckled before she locked eyes with him once more. "I'm your daughter Dad."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Doctor Jean Grant looked at the test results in silence before her gaze turned to Rick. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it just as fast and her eyes darted once more to the computer display. Cocking her head to the side, she crossed her arms and sighed before pressing her fingers to her temple. Rick waited impatiently as did the Captain and Roy, all three wondering if the young woman was fully honest. Several seconds of muttering ensued before the Doctor turned fully to Rick.

"Well...DNA doesn't lie." She stated bluntly. "According to this, she is your daughter."

"From the future?" Roy asked, still having trouble believing this. Even after all he'd experienced over the years which included a crazy and dangerous trip from Pluto they were almost finished with, he found this hard to believe. "How?"

"Not my area of expertise Commander. Doctor Lang would be the better one to ask."

Captain Gloval rubbed his chin thoughtfully before asking the question Rick was still struggling to ask. "Doctor. Do you know who the mother is?"

"It's Commander Hayes."

All eyes turned sharply to Rick, who was still staring at the display in shock. Henry cocked an eyebrow curiously as the two had never really been very civil until after their incarceration by the Zentradi. Roy's surprised face spoke volumes before he gave a knowing smirk and clapped Rick on the back. "Well now! Seems you do grow up! Nicely done Rick! Lisa is a fine woman!"

Roy recoiled under Rick's heated glare as Jean gave a small laugh at Roy's statement.

"It was her eyes, wasn't it?" She asked the man, who nodded. "Well, your right on that count. Lisa is the mother of our time traveler."

"This just became even more interesting than I imagined." Henry muttered, tugging at his cover. They almost missed the doors sliding open and the very woman they were talking about entered the room, curious as to what was going on.

"Captain? Has there been any light shed on our new passenger?" Lisa asked, spotting Roy's smug and knowing look. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms as she spoke. "What?"

"Oh nothing at all Commander Hayes." He answered innocently, putting her on edge. "It just seems I will be winning a bet some time in the future."

"What on Earth are you talking about?" She asked, not amused at his dancing around the subject. Jean winced as Lisa turned her expectant gaze to her.

"Well..." She started slowly, unsure of how to say it. "You have, or will have I should say, a daughter."

Of all the things Lisa had expected, this was by far not even on the list. She blinked several times before she looked to the three men. Rick looked shell shocked, Roy looked like an amused ass, and Captain Gloval looked distinctly uncomfortable. She turned her owlish gaze back to Jean, hoping the woman would actually explain what she had said in better detail. Roy was the first to speak.

"Welcome to the family Lisa!" He laughed and the three in the know face palmed as she just stared at him in confusion.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa and Rick looked at the young woman, who by DNA proof, was their daughter. One who was older than her father at present. Lisa took a calm breath before she spoke, her eyes already confimring what she had been told. She could see her own eyes, shape of the woman's face, and her own body type. Then there was the nose, slight unruly brown hair, and cheek bones that were dead ringers for Rick's. "Today has been very interesting as I'm sure you can agree to."

"You're telling me Mom." The woman grinned the familiar Hunter Grin Rick wore almost consistently. "I woke up this morning to escort the Ark Angel to find the SDF-3 and instead, some kind of energy disruption sends me flying out of Hyperspace mid fold and I wind up landing on the SDF-1."

"What's your name?" Rick asked softly, still trying to wrap his head around all of this. Surprise didn't quite cover it. The woman smiled softly.

"My name is Kalyee Diane Hunter. I was born June sixth two thousand and sixteen." She rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "So that's about four years or so from now."

Lisa glanced to Rick, seeing him lean back in his chair and cross his arms over his chest. She wondered what was going on in his mind as she found herself not put off from the idea of settling down with the cocky little hot head. He was starting to come into his own and they had been getting along fairly decently ever sine their return.

"Okay. So your our daughter from the future. How old are you?" Rick questioned.

Kaylee wagged a finger at Rick with a teasing grin. "Come on Dad! Hasn't Mom taught you that it isn't polite to ask a lady her age?"

Lisa smirked and cocked and eye brow as Rick let out a groan and palmed his face, his voice partially muffled. "That proves it. She seems to have your sense of humor."

"Funny?" Lisa joked.

Rick gave a light smirk. "Terrible."

Rolling her eyes, the woman returned her attention back to the young woman who was watching them interact with longing in her eyes. This raised a few questions.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Lisa asked, spotting a flash of embarassment before the young woman favored her with a studying gaze.

"I'm not sure how it will affect the timeline."

"At this point, it wouldn't matter." Lisa stated calmly. "You arrived in a next generation veritech that Doctor Lang has already begun going over in extreme detail. You've also made it clear that your...father and I at some point decide to settle down and start a family. Surely it wouldn't effect the timeline worse than that?"

A serious look crossed the young woman's face and both RDF officers exchanged nervous glances.

"You don't understand Mom. Billions of lives may be lost if history is altered too much."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Welcome to the Neighborhood (Oneshot part two thing based around concept of Lisa and Rick growing up together)

The sky shone brightly as the five year old child followed his father down the stone path to the road where three people where waiting for them. To his left was his older brother, his blonde hair shining in the sun and walking in time with his mother. The curious child stared at the three new faces, one of which a girl a few years older than him turned her own emerald eyes on the group with child like curiosity, her light colored hair falling freely down her back. The young boy tried his best not to let his curiosity show as they came close enough for his father to clasp the tall man's hand. Cocking his head to the side, he eyed the newcomer as he spoke.

"Good to see you again Mitch!" The man laughed as his father grinned.

His father, Mitchell Hunter, replied to the tall man. "Same here Donnie! Didn't realize it was you moving into the neighborhood till I saw you walking up my path!"

Hearing his father and the man laugh, the young boy turned his gaze back to the girl. He could tell she was older than him now that he was right in front of her. Deciding to follow his father's example, he held out his hand to the other child. "Hello. I'm Rick."

The girl gave him a studying look before she smiled and accepted the greeting, grasping his hand in her's. He noted how smooth and soft it felt, sort of like his mothers.

"My name is Lisa." She greeted him. "It's nice to meet you Rick."

The boy, Rick, satisfied he now knew who she was, let her hand go and pointed to the older boy that crossed his arms and grinned. "This is my big brother, Roy."

The blonde boy, Roy, stepped over and offered his hand that the girl took while the parents watched with amused looks. "Yeah, I'm the runt's big brother. Nice to meet ya Lisa."

She looked between the two, confused before blurting out. "You two don't look like brothers."

Realizing what she did, her face went beet red and she clasped her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. Rick grinned as Roy smirked and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. They had both been told they were not blood related but Pop always said blood didn't mean anything when you considered someone family. He always said something about their Uncle that was in prison, but for what, he'd never say. He'd never even told them the man's name and would get really angry when it was brought up. But both boys still saw each other as brothers. Roy was the one to answer.

"It's okay." He assured her. "Pop and my Dad were good friends and he took me in when my father died. Rick is my brother where it counts."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Five years passed since the three children meet, Rick now eight years old while Lisa and Roy, his brother and best friend, where eleven. But it was not all smooth in the world. Lisa had lost her mother last year during an unexpected medical condition. The way it had been explained to them, Lisa's mother, Sarah, had some kind of weak blood vessel in her brain that had burst, killing her when she slipped and fell while mopping the kitchen. Rick could remember his Uncle Donald being really upset and Rick could understand as much as a seven year old could. He didn't know it, but by him taking it upon himself to cheer his Uncle up that cold autumn day not long after, he'd changed the course of history in that Donald had started to put distance between those that cared about him and himself. Young Rick had been exceedingly persistent in reminding his Uncle that he was needed by his friends and his daughter. Who knew a sneak water balloon attack could break a man from his spiraling depression on a daily basis? Donald would tell Rick years later that his constant assaults over that week had pulled Donald from his downward spiral just because he hated getting hit by ice cold water and had started planning his revenge against the young and persistent Rick Hunter. It had by no means healed the man, but the fact that those close to him refused to let him sink back into that stand offish mindset he'd started to fall into helped him years later to be the man he had been before his wife's death.

Currently, Rick was laying in the grass by the Hangers, staring at the clouds with a small smile as he began looking for familiar sights in them. Humming to himself in a tune only he knew, he didn't hear the approach of his friend until she was looking down at him, eyebrow cocked. "What are you doing?"

"Cloud watching." he chirped in response. "Wanna join me?"

Lisa looked straight up into the sky before back down at him, her look one of contemplation. "Why are you watching them?"

"It's fun. I swear." He defended. "I'm trying to find funny shaped clouds. Things like ducks and stuff. Besides, it's not like Pop is letting me learn to fly."

Lisa heard his sullen tone and nodded in understanding. Her Uncle Mitch had been adamant that Rick was not setting foot in a plane, let alone a simulator, to learn to fly until he was ten. Her Aunt Beth had even pointed out that Pop's Dad had started teaching him at eight. A sudden, rather interesting idea came to mind as she turned her own gaze towards the house with a small smile. "You know, your mom knows how to fly. Have you asked her?"

Sitting upright, a surprised look appeared on his face as he turned to Lisa before it melted into a smile that made the young girl blush. "You are a genius Lisa!"

Rick hopped up and pulled her into a tight hug before he sprinted to the house, leaving the blushing girl to smile at his enthusiasm. She'd never realize just what she had unleashed by her innocent actions.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy frowned. The eighteen year old man was watching his brother's progress through the air show with unease. Besides him, Pop was also, likewise, frowning. Roy was the first to speak. "Pop, something isn't sitting right here."

Pop nodded his head in agreement as Lisa looked to the two men. She'd come into her own not long ago, taking after her mother in looks to the point that everyone noticed her beauty, even her long time friend Rick. But that was until they got to know her and realized she had her father's personality. Which meant she was quick to temper with a sharp mind. She too felt that something was off and it could be dangerous. She watched as Rick began the final leg of the act where he would do a low, high speed pass with another of the air circus planes. Initially, it would have been Roy, but he'd broken his arm during foot ball practice which mean he wouldn't be flying. Her sharp eyes locked on Rick's as the old F-4F, engine roaring, barreled towards the oncoming P-51 flown by one of the Air Show vets, a Captain Jenkins, retired US Navy, set up for his own run. Dread rose into her stomach as the planes approached and her sharp eyes caught sight of something around the time Roy's own eyes showed panic. "Something is wrong. Something is going to go wrong!"

Pop looked at her with wide eyes before Roy slammed his finger on the transmit button of the communications gear. "Rick! Jenkins! Abort!"

The two planes started to break from the run when it happened. The low flying birds that both had spotted flew right between the two and Captain Jenkins had one slam right into his canopy. The glass shattered as the body of the bird impacted into him, rendering him unconscious. The P-51 rolled lazily left and Rick yanked back on his controls to avoid his out of control plane. Instead, the rolling aircraft clipped his left wing, shredding it from the plane. The three in the control room froze as the F-4 began rolling. Rick had managed to roll the craft enough for the belly to slam hard into the ground where the old gal caught fire on impact and skidded towards the stands. The P-51 continued on it's uncontrolled roll and slammed hard, nose first into he ground, flipping end over end before setting down on it's side, both wings ripped clear of the smoking plane. Pop was already sprinting to Rick's flaming plane as the young pilot was clawing his way out of the wreck, desperate to get clear as Crash Fire Rescue (CFR) rushed out onto the field to both crash locations.

Rick was pulled quickly from the area as they set to work of putting the flames out as workers pulled Jenkins from his plane, fighting to bring the man back to life. Pop made it to his son's side.

"Rick! Are you okay?"

The young man groaned, one eye swollen shut already, a nasty gash across his forehead, but managed to give his father a weak smile. "Any landing you can walk away from."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick blinked in confusion as he looked to Lisa and Roy. Both looked calmly as they waited for him to speak.

"You're both joining up?" He asked, trying to make sure he heard them correctly.

"Yeah. That's right Little Bother." Roy replied. "Things are getting bad out there."

Lisa nodded her head, agreeing with Roy's statement as Rick looked at them thoughtfully. She wondered just what was going on in his head as he frowned.

"But that means you both could die."

"It's possible Rick." Lisa winced as his sad eyes landed on her. "But it's the same for anyone who joins."

Rick sighed and sunk into his chair. "I know. It's just...we've always been together you know? We never really did anything big with out the others there."

Roy and Lisa shared a quick look before sitting beside the Seventeen year old Rick Hunter. Roy placed his hand on Rick's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, it's not for long Rick. Promise. Once this is all over, we'll be back."

Lisa gave him a brilliant smile and Rick had to force down a blush. He hoped it wasn't obvious he had a crush on his best friend. He'd had one for a few years now, but didn't have the courage to say anything in case it ruined their friendship. "Roy's right Rick. In fact, you could always join up next year if you miss us that bad."

Rick smiled at her attempt at humor and nodded his head before sighing and looking at Lisa, Roy didn't even try to hide his smirk as the two seemed to get lost in their own little world. He hoped these two would eventually get over themselves and get together. Even Pop found it hilarious as it was obvious to all that they both had crushes. Admiral Hayes was not much pleased, but was accepting if his daughter decided to date Rick. After all, he'd known the young man for several years now.

"Tell you what." Rick began, smiling. "If it comes to that, I will. And that's a promise."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Interesting Night (Oneshot part three thing, Random Idea poped into my head and wouldn't leave)

Rick stared blearly at the glass before him. Star Saver had gone about as well as it could have, They'd managed to find where the cocky bastard Khyron had been hiding Minmei and her cousin Kyle, destroyed the defending units after drawing said fucker from his bolthole, and caused massive damage to his toys. But yet, it didn't feel like a victory. It felt like the worlds biggest set up and the finger was pointing at him. Some would ask why that was seeing as they had accomplished the mission. The truth that surprised him, was how little he actually felt towards the mission. He should have been climbing the walls to go save his one time love. And yet, he'd treated it no different than any other he had done since joining the RDF. He downed the last of the drink and turned his gaze towards the wall, eyes unfocused, yet his mind running faster than a hyperspace fold to Pluto.

 _What was it Roy always liked to say? If something doesn't make sense with what you got, try thinking outside the box._ Rick thought to himself as he lanced his hands together, resting his elbows on the table. _The issue, my lack of interest in the mission beyond pure professional. Alright, near three years of not seeing or talking to some one_ can _cause an attachment to falter. But why wasn't I jealous she only focused on Kyle? Okay, he's family so she'd more than likely check on him first. Maybe that's why?_

Rick was so engrossed in his thoughts on the matter that he hadn't heard the approach of heels nor the sound of the stool being pulled back. It wasn't until he spotted a delicate hand signaling the Bartender, one John Sears, an old man with a colorful past and plenty of military experience from his time with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines during Nam. He blinked and glanced over to see an exhausted Lisa Hayes speaking to Old John. "I'll get a Bud Light Platinum, John."

"Comin' right up Cap." The old man replied in his Texan drawl, reaching under the counter and pulling a bottle from the cooler. "Glass?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "No. Bottle will do for tonight."

She made to pull her wallet from her purse when Rick passed the old Barkeep a five.

"Her drink is on me." He grinned at her. "Least I can do for all the headaches."

"It'll take more than one beer to cover that." She joked as she placed the bottle to her lips.

Rick gave a low chuckle and polished off the last of his glass. Looking to John as the man began cashing the money for change, he spoke. "Might as well keep that in the drawer and pass me one as well. They're two fifty right?"

"It is. Give me a sec."

Rick waited as the man closed the register and passed him a beer from the same cooler. Rick thanked him and took a pull on the alcohol as Lisa gave him a curious look. Rick sighed and placed the bottle down and resumed staring at the wall. She'd never seen him looking this introspective and wondered what was on his mind.

"Everything okay there fly boy?"

Rick glanced over at her and shrugged. "I don't know. Something isn't adding up here."

"Care to share?" Lisa offered, resting her arm on the counter. "Some times a fresh perspective can help."

Rick hesitated. He could tell Lisa. After all, she had become a good friend over the last couple years. But something seemed to cause them to go after each other like a dog does a cat. It was weird how one minute, they'd be laughing and joking around and the next they were having a shouting match. Rick snorted as he thought of how it made them sound like an old married couple. But at the end of the day, he trusted her and she'd never steered him wrong before.

"Well..." He began slowly, pushing the bottle around in his hands. "It's about Star Saver. More specifically...how I acted during it."

"I don't see what's wrong there." She sipped her drink. "You acted like a mature and responsible leader. You didn't take any risks, kept your head the whole mission, and completed your objective in a professional manner. All in all, you did a damn good job Commander."

"And that's the issue." He lamented. "Lisa, who was the hostage?"

"Minmei." She replied, keeping her jealousy out of her voice and yet was curious where he was going with this.

"Yes. Minmei." He paused and glanced at her, seeing her studying gaze. "And was she in danger?"

Lisa paused, thinking on the situation. "Well, yes. Khyron is insane. There is no way to know just what could have happened to her or her cousin."

He sighed and took a gulp, wiping his mouth before continuing. "And how would you expect me to react based on past experience?"

It dawned on her just what he was getting at. Her quick mind put two and two together, and she had to fight hard not to smirk as it meant little Miss Macross was now officially out of the running in his life. He must have spotted a flash of her amusement and frowned at her. "This isn't funny Lisa."

She had the grace to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry Rick. I didn't mean to upset you." She apologized. "It's just, well, I know you had a rather large crush on her. The fact that you didn't go lone wolf out there speaks volumes about how much you've grown as a man and as an officer. It's just a little amusing that you reacted the completely opposite to how Khyron probably expected you to react is all."

Rick thought on what she said and the image of a gobsmacked Khyron brought a humorous grin to his face. "Okay, that is pretty funny now that I pictured it. I bet he wasn't all too happy about his plan failing. I know he's had an axe to grind with me for awhile now. Miriya told me all about his vendetta. How he wants to avenge his three losses to me. What an ego on Khyron."

"He does seem rather attached." Lisa commented dryly before she finished her drink. "Now, enough over thinking everything. You did a great job out there today and you should be proud of yourself."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick groaned as he opened his eyes, looking around before he glared at the offending window. He didn't know why his mouth felt like an ashtray or why he seemed to have a pounding head as he rose from bed. Stretching, his muddled mind pulled up a foggy memory of last night. His still unasnwered questions of Minmei bouncing in his head. He remembered talking to Lisa but the rest of the night was too much a blur. "I'm never drinking like that again."

He shuffled zombie like to the bathroom and going about his normal routine with some delicacy as he wasn't feeling all too great. With refreshed sigh, he exited the bathroom after showering and cleaning his dry mouth. He felt human again and made his way to the dresser where he spotted a glass of water and two aspirin along with a note. Curious, he wondered if Drunk Rick had been kind enough to leave Sober Rick something to deal with the hang over. Grabbing the note, he read the familiar scrawl with a fond smile. _Rick, here's some water and aspirin for today. You probably felt like crud when you got up. Call me once you've taken this. We have some things to discuss about last night. Love, Lisa._

He smiled at the warm feeling in his chest.

"She's always looking out for me." He bent down and froze halfway through opening a drawer. Standing up right, he reread the letter after checking the cool glass of water. "Wait a second...did she stay the night? And what would we need to talk about?"

Dread crept into his mind as he thought of possible problems he had caused. Maybe he hit on her in his drunken stupor? That thought actually, and curiously, eased his dread. Well, she was a good friend. Which meant if he had, well, it wasn't the end of the world by far. She was pretty cool once she relaxed. He shook his head and went back to grabbing his clothes and dressing, grabbing his black 'Fear The Bones' short sleeved shirt, stopping twice as his movements seemed to make him feel like vomiting. Gingerly, he took the pill and the water. For several minutes, it felt like pure hell as his head pounded harshly and the snakes in his stomach twisted in agitation. But once the fast acting pills took effect, the throb diminished to a very dull one and the snakes seemed to go back to sleep. "Yeah, never drinking that much again."

He turned to the night stand, making his way over to grab his cell phone. He nearly dropped it when he spotted the new background and just stared at the device, mouth agape as his mind came to a screeching halt. This had to be a trick, He was seeing things. With a trembling hand, he slid the screen lock to the right, thinking maybe it was just his mind being devious. But no. The picture remained. He swallowed hard as his eyes burned the image of him and Lisa kissing into his memory. How and why sprang to mind. And once again, his chest seemed to gain a warm feeling to it that scared the hell out of him.

He sat down on the bed, almost bonelessly as he just stared at the picture, ignoring the five new texts and ten voicemails. Oh what did he do? His thumb traced the image of her on his screen and a smile seemed to make itself known on his face. He shook his head and frowned. He wasn't dense by far. He knew Lisa liked him. And it made him feel like such a dick as he was confident his feelings were not romantic towards her. She seemed to understand though. After all, it was the worst kept secret on base. Sighing, he checked his texts. One letting him know the $102.45 bill for it was due this Friday. Two were from Max, seeing if he was okay. One was from Wilcox, asking him when they could meet for some wargames. The last was an apology from Minmei for New Detroit. He scoffed as he deleted that message, not even bothering to answer it. _That ship has sailed I'm afraid._

Tapping the voicemails, he began listening to them. Though all where from his former crush. The first two were ones begging for him to forgive her. The last one however, was rather harsh. Rick didn't speak the dialect of Chinese that was her native language, but he was pretty sure she wasn't wishing him a pleasant evening. Scowling, he deleted the messages and opened his contacts before sending a text to Lisa. He didn't know if she was in a meeting or not today, but decided on the safe option.

 _Just woke up. Felt like crap but the stuff you set out is working. Did I do anything...weird last night?_

Grimacing after he sent the text, he realized how much of a moron he sounded like. Well, she knew him and he figured she'd get what he was asking with a mild amount of humor. Shrugging, he made his way into the front room and looked at the couch. It didn't look like anyone had slept on it, but then again, Lisa was pretty good at erasing her tracks. Except when ever she used his shower. She never does clean out the hair in the drain. Well, he supposed everyone was entitled to a human flaw. It made him smirk as he thought about that. His mind was pulled to the present as the phone vibrated, Pulling it out, he opened the message and felt his face go pale.

 _Define weird._

Rick palmed his face before typing his reply.

 _Can you call? Or is this between meetings texting?_

To answer his question, the phone began ringing and he answered before the first ring was even done. "Hello?"

 _"Does this answer that question flyboy?"_ He heard her amused voice and grinned. _"So...you asked if you did anything weird last night?"_

"Yeah. I really don't remember anything after you showed up at the bar last night." He confessed. "I was hoping you'd shed some light as it's obvious you stayed the night here."

 _"Well, not weird so much as...enlightening."_ She answered after a few minutes of silence. _"We managed to clear the air about the issue that seemed to rise up between us."_

Frowning, Rick picked up on her stressing of certain words and was trying to figure out what she was talking about when another question popped into his mind. "And the cell phone picture that's now my background?"

 _"You wanted to take that and you sent it to Minmei last night."_ Lisa answered. _"Oh, did she ever reply to that by the way?"_

"It would explain the angry voicemail I got." He mused thoughtfully before his eyes went wide. "Wait! I had the idea to do that?!"

 _"Well...to be fair, we both came up with it after she blew up your phone with texts and calls."_ Lisa sounded guilty, yet amused none the less. _"You wanted it to be a kiss."_

Rick bit back a groan that tried to escape and gave a sigh instead. "Well...it's not to big of an issue. So, what was the issue between us then?"

 _"Ummm...It's something I'd rather not say until I get back."_

Rick heard the guilty tone in Lisa's voice and knew something had happened to change the dynamic between them. He only hoped it wasn't bad enough to damage their friendship.


End file.
